Notes: SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! Please don't kill me. Oh, there is a hint of WJ in this, I couldn't resist!
Rosario frantically picked up the phone, and dialed. She was wondering what had happened. She gave the police the address, and she rushed up the stairs to see what was happening. She saw Karen, sobbing, and Olivia, bathed her own blood, lying on the floor. She froze, and caught the door frame to keep herself from falling. Her mind was spinning Miss Olivia? Why?
"ALRIGHT ALREADY!" Grace yelled, rushing out of her bedroom, pulling a tight black shirt over her head. She grabbed the phone just in time, and pushed the button.
"What is it?"
"Grace…" Karen sobbed.
"Karen? What's the matter?"
"Olivia…she…she.."
"What did she do now?"
"Slit…her wrists.."
Grace stopped dead. "Wh-what?"
"Hospital….Angel Of Mercy…call Will and Jack…" Karen could barely get out a sentence.
Grace swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "Alright, we'll be right down."
Karen sat in the hospital lobby nervously with Rosario. She bit her fingernails every few seconds, ruining her manicure, which meant she was really upset. Suddenly, a tall man with a dark beard in a doctor's coat came striding towards them. "Karen Walker?"
Karen stood up, clearing her throat. "Hey, yeah, that's me."
"Well-
"How is she? Is she alright? Is she awake? Can I see her?"
"Slow down Ms. Walker, let me tell you her medical condition first. You are her mother, yes?"
"Stepmother" Karen fidgeted, "how is she?"
"Well, emotionally, obviously she's not very well….she lost a lot of blood but she's fine now. She should wake up in an hour or so, and we put her on an IV drip. You can see her now, but I advise you don't wake her up."
"I-I won't…I-
"KAREN!"
"KAREN!"
"KAREN!"
Three breathless voices called from down the hall. Jack, Will, and Grace were running as fast as they could towards her. Jack got to her first and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Jack.." she whispered into his shoulder, "she's okay."
He kissed Karen's cheek gently, and continued to hold her against him. Once he let her go, Karen turned spitefully to Grace. "What the FUCK did you say to her?"
"I thought she was bothering you.."
"She almost got fucking raped Grace! And she confided in ME! And then I turned my back on it…." Her face went white, "I don't want to talk to you anymore." She pushed past her, and walked down the hallway to where Olivia's room was. Karen pushed the wooden door open without hesitation.
Olivia lay in the hospital bed, her eyes closed, her skin as white as a sheet. Karen rushed up to her "Ol-iv" her voice cracked, she couldn't speak. Tears trickled down Karen's cheeks, as she bent down and kissed Olivia's forehead.
She sat down in an uncomfortable gray chair by Olivia's gurney, and took both of her stepdaughter's hands in her own. Olivia's wrists were heavily bandaged. Karen began to softly cry, and Olivia's eyes flickered open.
Olivia's eyes opened slowly. At first, everything was blurry, and she felt nothing, but soon she acknowledged the throbbing pain in her wrists. Once she was conscious enough to realize she was in a hospital, she began to remember what had happened. She remembered Grace screaming and shaking her, and she remembered slitting her wrists in the bathtub. She remembered nothing after. A feeling of frustration rushed over her. She had wanted to kill herself. She had wanted to die, she had wanted to stop being a burden to everyone. She couldn't even do that. "I can't believe it" she whispered furiously. It was only then she noticed Karen was there. She stared at her stepmother, cheeks soaked with tears, a look of utter shock on her face.
"Olivia…" she breathed.
"Karen…." A sob caught In her throat, "I'm sorry."
Karen sobbed, and pulled Olivia into a hug.
Will and Jack watched Olivia and Karen embrace. "What happened…." said Will, "was sad, but, I think, they're closer now." He struggled to keep his voice straight, his eyes pooling with tears.
Jack watched them. "I don't think I can ever forgive Grace. I know she didn't know but….how could she scream at a child like that?"
Will looked over at him. "How did you know about that?"
"When called me to let me know, crying on the phone, she told me what happened."
"Oh…" Will said quietly, looking at Grace, forlorn, sitting in the hospital lobby.
Grace looked down at the hospital floor. She felt terrible. What Karen had just told her felt like a stinging slap across her face, one she deserved. She felt someone sit down next to her. She raised her head, and stared into the face of a teenage boy.
"Hey" he said gently, "are you here for Olivia?"
She looked at him, shocked. "Yes, I-I am. How did- I mean- what's your name?"
He smiled slowly. "I'm Kyle."