Her mouth was insanely dry, her body felt numb and yet ached all at once, and pulling her eyes open seemed to be the biggest fight of her life.

    It took a while for her ears to realize that she was conscious, sounds starting as faint ringing before crescendoing into what they really were. A faint beeping and soft whispering slowly flooded her senses, the smell of clean hitting her nose. They were all too familiar, her eyes immediately shooting open.

    "Miss Bloom?" Someone spoke, hands immediately falling on her arm. "Miss Bloom, we'll need you to sit still. You're in the hospital, but you'll be okay. You just had surgery, you need to calm down."

    Her eyes focused enough to notice the nurse next to her, but she kept throwing her arms, trying to push her off. "Maddie. Where's Maddie?" She rasped, her limbs feeling like gelatin, too weak to actually get the woman attempting to keep her in bed away from her.

    Ollie wrestled with the nurse for a moment before Buck was suddenly barreling his way into her room, his hands finding her shoulders. She repeated her question, eyes stinging with the lingering threat of tears, throat dry and causing the words to break as they hit the air. "Evan."

    "Olivia, lay down." He soothed, warm hands leading her to lay back down on the hospital bed. His hair was mussy, falling in multiple different directions, and his face was sullen, usually bright blue eyes reddened and puffy. He was not okay. She could tell. And that made her heart drop more.

    After he got her settled back down and the nurse had snuck something into the IV prodding into her elbow, her eyes grew half-lidded again, finding him sadly. "Where's Maddie?" She whispered again.

    Evan's hand found her hair, smoothing it down as he leaned down to press a kiss to the crown of her head. "She's okay. Chimney's okay. You're all okay." He murmured, his breath brushing against her skin as he held her close. "Everything is gonna be okay."

    Her hand reached out to grab a hold of his shirt, keeping her close the best she could. A soft silence fell over them for a moment before she moved to look up at him. "What happened to me?"

    "Uhm..." He trailed off, clearing his throat as he slowly lowered himself into a chair next to her bed, which she noticed had already been placed there. His hand trailed down from her hair to find hers, wrapping around it securely.  "I found you and Chimney after Doug did. You died, but you came back. I-I rode with you to the hospital, but then I had to go find Maddie. While I was gone, you had surgery. From what I understand of the medical blabbery, they had to remove part of your liver, but it shouldn't affect much. The rest of your surgery was just to clear up internal bleeding. You've been asleep since then."

    Olivia's brow furrowed after he trailed off, head feeling heavy against the pillow. "How long was I asleep?"

    "Three days." Buck responded, giving her a small smile. "You were tired."

    "Being stabbed will do that to you." She responded dryly, sighing as she leaned her head back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

    He stayed quiet beside her for a moment before lifting her hand to his lips, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. "I'm glad you're okay." He murmured against her skin. "S-since I knew Maddie and Chim were okay, I haven't left. I was afraid you weren't gonna wake up. T-they said it was a possibility."

    Ollie's eyes moved to find him again, a small smile pulling at her lips. "You really think I'd let you get off that easily, Buckaroo?" She whispered, thumb brushing against the back of his hand.

    Evan laughed, shaking his head. "I hoped you wouldn't." He responded earnestly, fixating her with an adoring glance.

    She stared back at him for a moment with a gentle moment before she removed her hand from his, adjusting herself in her bed with a soft groan before patting the bed beside her. "Come here."

    His eyebrows furrowed as he watched her move, watching her with concern. "Are you sure?"

    "Do you want me to rephrase?" Ollie responded, eyes challenging him.

    He let out another chuckle, shaking his head before he stood up. Slowly, as if he was afraid him moving too quickly would hurt her, he fit his large body into the small space next to her, legs tangling with hers and his arm propping up on the pillow behind her. It took a second of adjusting to get them both to fit comfortably, but she managed to lay her head against his chest, his fingers finding their way into her hair as his fingernails brushed against her scalp soothingly.

    It didn't take long for exhaustion to wear in, her eyes fluttering shut as she slouched against him, slowly letting sleep overtake her again.

—

    After she had been discharged, a whole three days after her three-day nap, she was forced into minimal labor and, at minimum, three weeks off of work. The idea of not working again, after what seemed like just getting back after her broken ankle, made her want to slam her head against the wall repeatedly. Which had happened multiple times, especially as  she got to the end of her medical leave.

    Ellis was currently hovering over her shoulder as she washed dishes, so close to her that her breath brushed against the bare skin. "Are you sure you should be doing that? I can do the dishes, Ollie. Go sit down."

    Ollie groaned, turning around and leaning against the sink to glare at her roommate. "Ellis. I am able to wash dishes. I feel fine."

    "That's not what normal people say after being stabbed four times by a psycho maniac." Ellis deadpanned, crossing her arms to accent her point. "You were practically comatose for three days, and then bedridden for three more days, and now you've been off of work for three weeks now and haven't complained out loud at least once. You are really starting to concern me."

    A laugh left Ollie's lips as she rambled on, shaking her head and holding up a hand to stop her. "I'm okay, Ellis, please. Being stabbed sucked, yeah. But I'm dealing with it. My entire room is clean, the surgeons did a great job to give me minimal scarring, I've gone in for my doctor's visits, and I have you and Buck swapping off and taking turns helping me out. I'll be back to work next week, and everything will go back to normal."

    Ellis furrowed her brows at her for a little bit before jumping to sit on the counter, crossing her legs at the ankles as she watched her closely. "You, Chimney and Maddie have all been saying the same things, from what I've heard from Buck. Are you all planning something we don't know about?"

    She rolled her eyes, drying her last dish and setting it in the cabinet. "No. We're just grown adults who are handling a traumatic experience in a nice, healthy way. Maddie's seeing a therapist, Chimney's doing a deep intense cleanout of his closet, and I'm doing what I do best."

    "Deflecting?"

    "No."

    "Ignoring all of your issues?"

    "Ellis."

    "Having sex with Evan Buckley?"

    "You're done." Ollie conceded, raising her hand and walking away from Ellis, shaking her head as she heard her cackles from behind her. She disappeared into her bedroom, which had been her haven the past few weeks, including being the target for all of her impulsive cleaning sprees. Her phone rang almost as soon as she sat down, her lips turning up into a smile as she saw the contact name. "Hellloo?"

    Buck's voice hit her ears, cutting off her greeting. "Ollie! Have you heard what's happened?"

    She sat up against her pillows with a soft groan, relaxing against them as she held her phone to her ear. "No? You guys okay?"

    "911 is out!" He squeaked, the sound of rustling coming from his side of the call. "We're on Emergency Protocol. Driving around instead of hanging out in the station, multiple calls not going through, showing up on scenes at the same time as other stations. It's hectic out here. God, I wish you were here to see it, you'd excel under this pressure."

    Ollie laughed slightly, cheeks warming at the thought of him wanting her there. "I wish I was there. But I'll be back next week, unless I somehow get a concussion or something." She huffed through her nose.

    His laugh trickled through the speaker at that. "I hope not." He paused for a second, before speaking again. "Hey, Chim's calling me, I gotta go. I'll see you tonight?"

    "You live here," was all she responded with before the call cut, shaking her head in amusement as she set her phone down.