Alyssa

“There's no need to worry, Ma'am.” The doctor informed me. How in hell does he expect me not to worry when Oliver's heart just stopped? “The wire attached to his heart simply came loose.”

He showed me the suction cup thing that came loose and stuck it back on Oliver's chest. The device came to life immediately.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

It was only them that I let out the breath I was holding. Oliver isn't dead. He's still alive. I ran my hands down my face to remove the tears that fell. When I heard the heart monitor flatline, I ran out, crying and screaming for help. Nurses and doctors rushed in and not more than five minutes later they came out, some with annoyed looks on their faces. They mumbled how I was just being hysterical.

Could they blame me? Who wouldn't freak out when their child's heart supposedly stopped? As embarrassed as I was, I was happy that Oliver was alive.

“In fact,” The doctor I didn't bother learning his name continued with a small smile. “In the course of checking him, Oliver stirred and opened his eyes momentarily.”

My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when he said that. Oliver was awake, even though it was just for a moment.

“But, I suggest you don't call your husband until your son is fully conscious.” He advised.

I nodded, completely understanding what he said. I knew for a fact that Nathan will come running back here the moment I mention Oliver even twitched. I promised I would call him immediately but I didn't want to cause any worry or unnecessary excitement.

The doctor made sure I was okay and checked Oliver a little more before he left. I took a deep calming breath and sat right next to Oliver's bed. I gripped his had gently and whispered. “Please, wake up soon, Olly, I miss you. And the more I think about it, I realized that cereal is actually a soup.”

I giggled at myself and leaned into the chair, trying to relax. I let the silence of the room lull me to a restless sleep.

********

I woke up with a start to the sound of someone screaming. It was Oliver! He was freaking out with a terrified look on his face.

“DAD!!!!” He screamed, sobbing.

I quickly ran to his side, cradling his face in my hands. “Olly, it's Ally, you're okay, you're fine.”

“Everything hurts! I want my Dad!!” He cried.

I rushed out of the room to call a doctor. If everything was hurting him, he needed some medicine or something else was wrong. The doctor came in shortly after. He, along with a nurse tried to calm Oliver down but to no avail. He kept screaming for Nathan so I called him.

“Hello?” Nathan said groggily over the phone.

He must've been sleeping, I feel so bad for waking him up but it was an emergency. “Nathan, it's Alyssa.” I said frantically.

I shuffling around him quickly before he spoke. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Oliver's awake.” I informed him, peeking into the room to see that the boy was still crying hard. “He needs you, he's scared, we're trying to calm him down but nothing the doctor or I say is working.”

“I'll be right there.” He hung up immediately, not letting me say anything else.

I went back into the room to help the doctor with Oliver. “Oliver, sweetie,” His eyes fixed on me. “it's me, Ally, your dad's on his way, he's going to be here really soon, okay?”

He nodded, another loud sob escaping his lips. “I wanna go home!”

“You will soon, honey, don't worry. You, your dad and I will go home soon, okay?”

He hiccuped and started screaming again. “I wanna go home now!! I don't want to stay here!!”

“I know, I know.” I stroked his curly hair that had become messy, hoping that it would help calm him down.

He had stopped crying and his breathing was ragged. He coughed a few times and took a few deep breaths, leaning into my touch. He had just started calming down and that was when the doctor decided that it was the perfect time to tell the nurse to get a shot of painkillers to inject him with. And he said this to Oliver's hearing.

That had screaming once again. But this time the thrashed around, almost pulling the IV line out of his hand. The more we put our hands on him, trying to stop him from moving too much, the more he cried and struggled. He was even harder to calm down now.

After a few minutes of begging and trying to hold Oliver down, Nathan came into the room. When Oliver saw him, he cried for him and reach out. Nathan was immediately at his side and wrapped his arms around him securely, letting Oliver clutch his shirt tightly as he sobbed into it.

“Dad, I wanna go home!” He wailed. “I don't want any injections, it'll just make everything hurt more.”

“Oliver, you're going to be okay. You'll go home soon, alright?” Oliver looked up at his dad and nodded. “The shot will help you feel better, don't you want all the pain to go away?”

Oliver sniffled, wiping his tears with his good hand. “Yeah. You're going to be here when they give it to me, right?”

Nathan gave him a reassuring smile. “Of course I will, I'm not going anywhere.”

The boy let out a shaky breath but agreed to get the shot. Doctor Emerson, I finally learnt his name, approached Oliver cautiously with the syringe in hand. It wasn't so big but it terrified Oliver. He started shrieking again when it was two feet away from him.

“Oliver, I'm here, you're going to be fine.” Nathan assured him.

Oliver simply squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face into his father's shirt, holding onto it tightly. Of course, he cried some more after the needle had pierced his skin but afterwards he was fine. He laid down again, his eyes fluttering shut after a few minutes. All that crying must have worn him out. Nathan kissed his head softly as he mumbled something unintelligible and went back to sleep.

**********

“I wanted to get donuts from across the street with my Gran gran for Ally and my dad. I ran out before Gran gran came out and... and...” His bottom lip quivered slightly. “All I remember is hitting my head after.”

I was saddened listening to Oliver's account of what happened as he recounted to a police officer. It has been a few days since the accident and he was being discharged today.

The authorities were called after we were sure Oliver could handle talking about it. He was the one who assured us he could after just three days. He was so strong. After he had woken up from his nap, it was like nothing happened to him. He began talking again and ate a lot more than he usually did when Carina brought food to him.

I could tell she still felt guilty because the accident occurred when Oliver was under her care until yesterday when Nathan spoke to her and made sure she knew that he did not blame her for a single thing.

So far, every one of  us have stopped worrying and are getting our full night's rest knowing that Oliver is fine.

“Thank you for talking to us, Oliver.” The female officer said with a kind smile to the young boy. “I assure you we will find the person who did this to you.”

“Can I do it to him too?” Oliver asked innocently. “I don't have a motorcycle but I do have my bicycle, maybe if I go fast enough I could break his arm too.”

We were all visibly shocked by that statement, except Nathan which wasn't so surprising.

“Um,” The officer started, unsure of what to say. “I'll ask the judge about that. Nathan, can I talk to you, please?” She gestured to the hallway and Nathan agreed, following her out.

She was friendly with the family, too friendly. Oliver was really happy to see her when she came in and so were Carina and Matthew. I didn't like it one bit.

Nathan returned shortly after and I had to ask. “What did she want to talk about?”

“She just asked if I knew of anyone who wanted to hurt Oliver or me and I said no.” He replied dismissively. I hummed, not quite liking his answer. Did she have to ask him that in private? She could have just gone that here. “Why do you have that look on your face?”

I blinked a few times. “What? What look? I don't have any look on my face.”

“You know you don't have to worry, right? Evangeline an I are just friends and she's married with a one year old.”

Oh she's married, good. “I don't care that she's married, why would I?” He raised an eyebrow at me and I laughed nervously. “I really don't care, she's your friend, so am I.”

Saying that took me to our discussion on Primrose hill. I was hurt that the man I was falling for didn't have the same feelings for me or he wasn't sure of them. I guess I was just too hopeful about our marriage, it was contractual after all and I couldn't exactly blame him for not feeling that way towards me.

He sighed and pulled me to a corner of the room, where he was sure no one could hear us. “I know I hurt you that night and I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that. But thank you, though.”

My eyebrows creased. “For what?”

“Even after what I said, you still care about Oliver, you didn't toss him to the side when I hurt you.”

“Of course not. Why would I? Our relationship has nothing to do with Oliver and I's.”

“But I still have to thank you. You have cared for him more than any other woman I have been involved with and treat him like your own. Although the way we met was not ideal, I'm lucky to have met a wonderful woman like you. You are a fantastic mother to him.” That made my heart flutter and tears well in my eyes.

All this time I've been worrying if what I was doing was right but now I know what I'm on the right track, especially since the validation came from Nathan. “Thank you, and you're an even better father.”

He grinned at that. “Thanks.”

Going on my instinct, I moved closer to him and wrapped my arms around him. It wasn't long until he reciprocated the gesture and squeezed me tightly. I only pulled away because I felt something buzz on my thigh.

It was Nathan's phone ringing in his pocket. That damn thing sure knows how to ruin our moments. He looked at the caller ID and a deep frown etched itself on his handsome face.

“It's your uncle.” He told me. I was about to tell him not to pick up but he already did.

Why is Christopher calling now?

“Hello, Mr Jordan... okay... she's fine... of course... oh, next Thursday?” He looked to me momentarily. “We would love to... okay... goodbye.”

“What's happening next Thursday?” I questioned as soon as he hung up.

“Your uncle and his family are inviting us for Thanksgiving dinner.”

“Yay, free food!” Oliver cheered from behind us.

“No, you're not coming with us.” Nathan said immediately.

“Why not?” He whined.

“No offense to Alyssa, I don't want you anywhere near The Jordans. Again,no offense Alyssa.”

“None taken. But Olly your dad is right, your hurt and you shouldn't be out so much.” That was a good enough reason for him, right? I don't want Oliver near them either.

Oliver groaned. “Come on, Ally you're supposed to be on my side!”

“Not this time, Olly, sorry.”

Nathan looked out the window and his frown deepened. “Let's get back home, it looks like it's going to rain soon.”

So we got Oliver and he drove us back to Carina and Matthew's house. By the time we got there, the sky got really dark, it looked like there was going to be a storm, we had the lights on because it was too dark in the house, almost like it was already night time but it was only 4pm.

It was after we had dinner and we were in the living room, talking when Oliver ran into the room shrieking excitedly.

“It's snowing!!!” He announced loudly.

We all looked out of the window to see that it was really snowing. We turned back to see that he had already gotten into his jacket and his mittens and ear muffs were on. He was really excited to play in the snow but his his dad had other plans.

“You are not going out there. Your arm should not be exposed to the cold and it needs rest. You should not be throwing snowballs with it.” He reasoned.

Oliver whined. “Please, Dad. You know how much I love the snow.”

“I said no.” The man concluded sternly.

I have never seen Nathan like this, he's always so goofy and joking. Serious and stern Nathan was new to me, it's kinda hot. But now Oliver needs me to back him up, at least to make up for the Thanksgiving thing and honestly he was so sad and looked like he was gonna cry and I didn't think I could handle that again.

“Come on, Nathan, let him have some fun, he had a tough time in the hospital. Let him just go play.” I tried.

“I don't want his getting hurt or running into the road again.”

“I won't.” He promised.

“Let's all go out so we can keep an eye on him.” Carina suggested.

“Gran, you can't be serious.”

“Nathan, stop smothering him, you know how stubborn you were when you were his age.” Matthew added.

Nathan sighed in defeat. “Fine, let's all go out.”

By the time we were outside, it was obvious that Nathan was just as excited as Oliver was, if not more although he tried to hide it. Oliver immediately ran into the snow, laying down in it. He started moving his arms and legs up and down to make a snow angel and he laughed all the way.

“Come on, guys, the snow's fine.” He encouraged, bursting into another fit of laughter when Carina laid next to him, making her own snow angel.

Deciding I couldn't resist, I joined them and soon we had all made snow angels. Oliver's was in the middle, Nathan and I made ours to his right and Carina and Matthew had theirs to his left.

“Let's go make a snowman!”

Somehow in the middle of making the snowman, a snowball fight started. At the end of the day, we were all tired and retired to bed earlier than we expected. Nathan and I still slept in the same room because his grandmother still believed we were in love and we didn't use a barrier anymore. Nathan always breaks through in his sleep or maybe be does that on purpose, I don't know but I don't mind, being in his arms felt so good.

Although I had fun and I was able to forget my problems for a bit, there was still that nagging voice at the back of my mind telling me that I would still have to face Christopher and his family soon. I was terrified,I could only hope that it would go well.

No, it won't.

Author's Note:

Hey, guys. It's my birthday!!! 🎉🎉🎉🎉

Thank you for reading another chapter of ‘Love Me’, hope you liked it and don't forget to vote, comment and share.

Questions:

1. Did you like the chapter?

2. Who else is happy that Oliver is not dead?

3. Who's POV do you want to see next?

4. What do you wanna see happen next?

Thanks again for reading. 🥰

-E