The dark-haired nurse glanced at her flinching blonde counterpart as they cowered in the hall. Another vase of flowers had hit the wall inside their patient's room, shattering with a very satisfying crash tinkle tinkle sound.
"No, seriously, Joanna," she said in a deep, velvety voice, no doubt acquired via years of smoking unfiltered Pall Malls out by the cafeteria loading dock. "What did you give her?"
"Me?" squeaked the blonde, her eyes round and very blue. The sound of the phone bouncing off the inside of the patient's door made her pause until the melodious cacophony had finished. "Why is everything always my fault, Emily?"
Emily, the older and more experienced nurse of the two, rolled her eyes. "Nobody's blaming you, Joanna," she explained, snorting at the blonde's still-peeved features. "It's just that you were her night nurse. You administered her last dose of pain meds before she fell asleep. I just figured you might have some idea what it was that you gave her."
"Oh."
Another thud--this time followed by a wet, crunching sound--indicated that the patient had lobbed her newly-filled water pitcher at the door. Mumbled shouts indicated that the patient was still detailing the slow and painful ways she was going to kill them both. Emily made a mental note to call housekeeping. Provided she was still alive to do so later.
"In that case, I believe it was vicodin. She said she was in a significant amount of pain."
"Well, let's make sure not to give that one to her again, okay? Unless you really want to wear an IV pole as a necklace."
Joanna nodded, flinching again as yet something else was lobbed across room 314. "Are you kidding?" she asked. "That one wouldn't wrap an IV pole around my neck! She'd shove it so far up my--"
"Oh hell, what did you two do to her now? " asked Rick Bauer as he came to a skidding stop outside Olivia Spencer's room.
"Nothing!" insisted Joanna, but Emily's narrowed eyes prompted her to be a little less...vague. "Well, nothing out of the ordinary. She was complaining of pain last night so I gave her vicodin."
Rick stared at the battered door to Olivia's room, his eyes widening when he heard some of the insults she was hurling at his nurses. He had to admit he was impressed. Clearly, Olivia's lung function was improving. He caught a few of the words she was saying and almost laughed. If not improving, then completely healed. At least she wouldn't be coming down with pneumonia any time soon. That was a good thing.
"What's she complaining of now?" he asked, wondering what was left in Olivia's room that was light enough and portable enough to throw.
"Apparently, she had a bad dream," said Emily, crossing her arms over her chest.
Rick looked at Emily, then at Joanna, then back to Emily. "A...a bad dream? She's decided to redecorate her room in Early American Tornado over a bad dream?"
"Must have been a hell of a dream," agreed Emily, smirking.
"You should go in there and see if you can calm her down," suggested Rick. Emily almost choked.
"I wouldn't go in there if you painted yourself gold and did the macarena at the next board meeting, Dr. Bauer. Sorry," she said, shaking her head. Her short salt-and-pepper curls didn't even move. "You people just don't pay me enough for that kind of duty."
Rick turned to the blonde. "Joanna?"
"Sorry," said the younger nurse, shrugging her well-padded shoulders. "I was supposed to be off duty 45 minutes ago. I only stayed because Emily wouldn't let me leave."
"Hey!" protested Emily. Joanna cut her eyes at her then went back to fluffing her hair. Emily glared at the younger nurse for a long moment, then turned her dark stare on Rick.
"What about you, Doctor? Surely you could--"
Rick's head snapped up. "Me?" he squeaked, sounding a little bit like Barney Fife. As a 13-year-old-girl. At a Hanson concert. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head. He would have backed away but Emily's raised eyebrows kept him rooted to the floor. "I--I'm--I--" he began. Finally, he took a deep breath and sighed. "Look," he said, pulling his voice out of the rafters. "I like my testicles right where they are, thank you. That harpy was married to my best friend once. You know where he is?" When both nurses shook their heads, he replied, "Neither do we! He's been in hiding for FOUR years. I'm not going in there."
"Well, somebody's got to go in there," said a sharp, commanding voice from behind Rick. "What if my mother is hurt or needs help?" Another unholy crash followed by additional shouting caused the three medical personnel to look at Ava Peralta with withering glances. "I admit it's a long shot," she amended, wincing when she heard another heavy object connect with the wall. "What's she so upset about?"
"She had a bad dream," replied Emily and Joanna at the same time. But not in the same voice. Emily's had more than a tinge of Incredulous Eyeroll mixed into it. Joanna's was a very sedate shade of Just The Facts.
"A bad dream? A bad dream? " Ava pinned each of them with a glare that could have leveled Town Hall. "You three are pathetic." She turned and stomped off towards her mother's room.
Joanna looked nervously at Emily. "She wouldn't hurt her own daughter, would she?"
Rick laughed. " Hurt her?" he repeated, flabbergasted. "She once tried to have her killed! "
Just then Ava threw open her mother's door. "Mom--Mom, don't you dare throw that at me! We need to talk!" The door banged shut behind her.
"Well," said Emily, shrugging. "It's in God's hands now."
Rick could only nod.
-----
"Mom, I'm serious. Put the tray down!" Ava Peralta stepped gingerly through the broken glass, water, flowers, and other detritus left after her mother's tantrum. She managed to wade through it all unscathed, then found a chair and pulled it over to the side of her mother's bed, reaching out for and taking the still-raised tray from Olivia's hands. She placed it on the tiny adjustable table at the foot of the bed and promptly moved it out of Olivia's reach. She smoothed the front of her burgundy pencil skirt and sat in the chair she'd procured.
"All right," she said, her voice as no-nonsense as Olivia had ever heard it. "What the hell is going on?"
"Those blood-sucking, crack-headed, duck-brained quack excuses for nurses gave me something last night that made me--made me--" She stopped and shuddered, remembering some of the most horrifying parts of the dream. "I could be scarred for life!"
"Because of a nightmare," said Ava dryly.
Olivia Spencer whipped her head in her eldest child's direction, her green eyes burning. "You weren't there," she hissed. "You weren't...weren't...." She flailed her blessedly empty hands twice and then dropped them back into her lap. "I don't want to talk about it," she said, sulking.
"Oh, you're going to talk about it," countered her daughter, raising one perfect eyebrow. " I'm going to write a check out of The Beacon's accounts to cover the damage you've done to this room. You're going to explain to me why. So out with it. I'm waiting."
"Don't wanna," mumbled Olivia, still sulking.
"Mom, I'm the woman who is one day going to choose which nursing home to put you in. Please, by all means, continue to be an ass."
Olivia blinked twice and then chuckled.
"God, you really are my kid, aren't you?"
Ava grinned back. "So the blood tests say. Now tell me about this dream. It must have been a doozy. The entire nursing staff is organizing a boycott of this room."
Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to order her thoughts. Where could she possibly begin? It was all so--so surreal!
She opened her eyes and said, "Well, the first thing I remember is hiring Natalia Rivera to take care of me and Emma after getting out of the hospital."
Ava frowned, but only slightly. "Okay. Odd but not terrifying. I could actually see you doing that."
"Then she bought Cassie's old farmhouse and Emma and I moved in with her."
Ava actually laughed. "You? Moving to a farmhouse? I can see how that would frighten you. What, were you attacked by a cow or something?"
"Keep it up, Ava," growled Olivia. "I think I still have that hit man's telephone number on speed dial."
"Okay, okay," said the auburn-haired woman, waving Olivia's ire away. "Don't get your gown in a knot, there. You and Emma moved in with Natalia Rivera. Big deal--"
"Then I fell in love with her," deadpanned Olivia.
Ava choked. "WHAT??" she shrieked between coughing fits.
"You heard me." Olivia raised an eyebrow of her own.
"Okay, wait. Wait just a second." Ava put both her hands up as if trying--and failing--to stop an onrushing car. "Let's put aside for a moment that Natalia is a woman and the widow of the man who gave you his heart. Mom, you fell in love with a MAID?? "
"Do ya see? Do ya see now why I want to mount those nurses' heads on my wall?"
"Okay, I stand corrected. This is the worst nightmare in the history of nightmares. Go on."
Olivia looked at Ava, shock clearly painted on her features. "You want to hear the rest? Isn't that enough?"
"Are you kidding? I totally want to hear the rest! My mom has a dream where she goes gay for the local Catholic saint? This is comedy gold!"
"You really don't want Christmas presents this year, do you?" said Olivia through gritted teeth.
Ava laughed. "You're really upset! It was a dream, Mom! A dream! Now, come on. Tell me the rest."
Olivia glared at her daughter for another minute and then sighed. "She got engaged to Frank Cooper."
"'But it wasn't a dream! It was a place! And you--and you--and you--and you were there!'" quoted Ava in a high, sing-songy voice. "Wizard of Oz there much, Mom? And what's with Natalia getting engaged to Frank 'If he only had a brain' Cooper? I thought you said you were in love with her?"
"Did I say this was a happy dream?" asked Olivia, annoyed. "She got engaged to Frank because I pushed her into it. I thought he was better for her than I was."
"You were being...noble? And you chose Frank Cooper? " asked Ava, her voice curiously strained. She couldn't hold her laughter for very long though and it burst out of her in raucous peals of derision.
"You think you're funny but you're not," groused Olivia, crossing her arms over her chest again.
"I'm sorry. Go on. Really." Ava collected herself as best she could. "I'm dying to find out how this ends. Does she marry Frank?"
Olivia considered whether or not she wanted to continue on with the retelling of the nightmare. On the one hand, it was so bizarre and so horrifying that she hated to relive it. On the other hand, she was beginning to feel relaxed for the first time since she'd woken up. Maybe facing the dream was the right thing to do.
"No," she sighed. "She doesn't. I.... I confessed that I was in love with her at Gus' grave. She tried to go on with the wedding but she ran out of the church in the middle of her vows."
"Wow," whispered the younger woman, shaking her head. "That sounds like one intense scene. Then what?"
"Then...then we tried to be together. I had moved back to The Beacon before the wedding and she was still my personal assistant--oh, I forgot to tell you that part--and we were trying to figure out how to tell Rafe about us because he was out of prison--"
"Prison? Mom, you're skipping HUGE parts of this dream, aren't you?"
"It was a long dream, Ava! I don't want to relive it all!"
"I don't blame you. Some of this sounds just insane!" She waved at her mother again, intent on her every word. "All right, go on."
Olivia smirked. "I haven't even gotten to the worst part yet, trust me. Anyway then it was coming up on the fourth of July and she and I decided we weren't going to wait anymore. For some reason, all this time, Natalia kept gaining weight--but we never talked about it. When she was telling me she didn't want to wait anymore, she was practically as big as a house--"
"Mom, enough! Tell the story --let Greg be the fashion police!"
"Right. Anyway, Rafe was taking it badly but we wanted to be together. So we decided to tell Emma before the Bauer barbecue and then go to the barbecue as a couple. But before we could, Natalia was feeling sick and started throwing up and she ended up here with Blake Marler--her new boss--"
"But--"
"It's not important," said Olivia, cutting her daughter off before she could protest. She just wanted to get the rest of the story out before her head exploded. "So she and Blake are here and Natalia gets a blood test and finds out that she's a couple of months pregnant--"
" Pregnant? " Ava sputtered. "Gee, Mom, I didn't think even you would--"
"--with Frank's baby," finished Olivia, her eyes a deep shade of Don't Fucking Go There green.
"Oh." Ava gave her mother a weak smile. "You left out the part where she slept with the King of Ineptitude, I guess. Sorry."
"I may be many things, Ava, but I'm not the father of Natalia Rivera's baby. Even in my worst nightmare."
Ava laughed. "Point taken. Then what happened?"
"Natalia ran off."
Ava waited for her mother to continue. She didn't.
"That's it? She just...ran off?"
Olivia swallowed hard, not wanting to add that she'd woken up crying desolately over the loss, feeling like her brand new heart was breaking in two. "She just ran off."
Ava shook her head. "Well, that is a nightmare, Mom. No one in their right mind would run off on you--pregnant with someone else's baby or not. You're the biggest catch in Springfield."
Olivia smiled, pleased at the compliment. "Well, the most often caught, maybe. But thanks." She looked off into space for a moment, then asked, "You know what the worst part is?"
The younger woman shook her head. "No, what?"
Olivia looked back at her daughter, a wicked gleam in her eyes. "After all that--months and months and months of crazy-ass crap going on in this dream--I didn't even get to fuck her!"
Ava blinked, shocked, until she finally registered her mother's evil grin and she burst out laughing. "Mom, you're awful! " she crowed, swatting Olivia's shoulder. She sat there, chuckling, for a few more minutes and then rose from her seat.
"Where the hell are you going?" asked Olivia.
"To take care of this mess you've made, of course," replied Ava, once again straightening her skirt. "I understand that it was a nightmare--boy, was it!--but honestly, Mom, you can't just go around destroying hospitals because you had a frustrated sex dream about the maid, okay?"
Olivia's eyes widened. "But--but--"
"Let's face it, Mom; she's a hottie! You could do worse for your first lesbian conquest, right? Like...like...." Ava put her thinking cap on to come up with the most unlikely match for her mother's walk on the wild side. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "I know! Doris Wolfe!"
Olivia groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I failed to mention that Doris was gay in the dream, didn't I?"
Ava stared, blank faced, at her mother. "Now you're just making things up, aren't you? Fine. Be that way. I'm leaving." She took a step toward the doorway only to stop abruptly when it opened before she got there, admitting a very confused Natalia Rivera.
The raven-haired Latina's big, brown eyes were as round as dinner plates as she took in the state of Olivia Spencer's hospital room. "What on earth happened in here?" she asked. "And are you okay?" She looked up into Olivia's eyes, her usual defenses down, searching for signs of damage or pain in the woman housing her dead husband's heart. She didn't even register that Ava was there.
"Hi, Natalia," said Ava, smirking. "I'm fine, thanks. How are you?" When Natalia didn't acknowledge her, Ava snorted, then turned back to her mother. Who was giving Natalia Rivera a very speculative look. Ava shook her head. "Try not to tear down the walls with your bare hands or anything while I'm gone, Mother, okay? I'll be back in a little while."
"Okay," agreed Olivia placidly, never taking her eyes off Natalia. She only vaguely registered that her daughter was singing "How do you solve a problem like Natalia?" softly as she departed.
Natalia nervously adjusted her purse on her shoulder. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she demanded, feeling small and vulnerable under Olivia's gaze. She tore her eyes away from the hotelier's and looked again at what was left of her room. "And what happened?"
"Just promise me one thing," said Olivia, still gazing at Natalia speculatively.
"What?"
"You'll never sleep with Frank Cooper. No matter what."
Natalia blinked at Olivia Spencer as if she'd just burst into a rousing chorus of "The Good Ship Lollipop." Then she narrowed her eyes.
"Are you drunk? Honestly, Olivia, you should be taking better--"
"Just. Promise. Me." Olivia's clenched teeth and her low growl made Natalia pause.
"Okay," she said softly. "But--"
"Say it."
Natalia blinked again, then swallowed. "I'll never sleep with Frank Cooper." It was an easy enough promise to make, after all. She regarded Frank Cooper as the older brother she never had. Sleeping with him was about as likely as--well--sleeping with Olivia herself. Suddenly, Natalia felt a wave of anger, embarrassment, and confusion wash over her. "There, I promised! You happy?"
She expected Olivia to be angry. She expected Olivia to spit something vitriolic and hateful back at her.
Instead--in a perfectly reasonable voice--Olivia replied, "Not yet. But I'm working on it."
And it was just at that exact moment that Natalia Rivera wondered incredulously to herself, Am I dreaming?
fin