Worth the Wait - A Spelivia Story

Infirmary

"You okay, Ms. James?" Olivia watched nervously as Spencer's mom banged the vending machine in frustration.

"This dang machine took my money. I just want to get a couple of snacks," she says as she leans her forehead against the machine.

Olivia walks up to her hesitantly and places a hand on Ms. James's shoulder, who leans a little into her touch. When a few more moments go by without Ms. James looking up, Olivia realizes that she's been crying.

"Hey, c'mon, we'll worry about the snacks in a second. Let's just take a seat. It's been a long day."

Ms. James turns away from Olivia attempting to wipe her tears before Olivia could see. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be crying in front of you. I didn't want anyone to see me like this."

"Well, you've seen me through my fair share of mess, so how about we call it even?" Olivia smiles softly as she notices Ms. James do the same. They both walk over to the seats nearby.

Ms. James takes a deep breath as she sits down. "You know, Spencer and Dillon are my blood but I raised Tamia like she was my own since I could remember. Don't get me wrong, I am so angry at her for getting in this situation, but mostly I am broken. I have now watched two of my kids laying in a hospital bed due to gang-related gun shot wounds. When does it stop?" She realizes that Olivia is listening so intently that it didn't dawn on her until now that she was talking to a child.

"I know it can't be easy for you kids either...You've all had such a rough couple of years."

"We have," Olivia says as she looks down. "We're trying to be strong, but it's not how we expected to spend senior year."

Ms. James takes Olivia's hands in hers. "How are you doing? Really?"

"I ran as fast as I could from my car, but I feel a little like I'm having an out of body experience, you know? I mean the last time we were all in the trauma bay..."

"It was Spencer's life on the line."

"Yeah..."

Both women stayed silent for a moment longer, holding hands but looking down at their laps. Ms. James broke the silence.

"So...in the spirit of changing the subject for a second, I've been meaning to ask you something..."

Olivia immediately takes her hands away from Ms. James, quickly wiping her hands in her lap. "Yeah, of course, anything..."

"You and Spencer...is that a thing?"

Olivia smiles brightly, looking away shyly.

"I KNEW IT!"

"I'm so sorry, Ms. James. It literally just happened a couple of nights ago, and with everything going on, we just haven't had a chance to officially tell you." She blushes a bit. "Oh gosh. Spencer is going to kill me!"

"Girl, I'll tell him I pried it out of you. Don't you worry, honey. I am so happy for you both. You make him happy, Olivia. I'm just glad he's finally realized it."

"Me too...I just hope my parents will see it the same way. They're...well my dad, isn't very happy with Spencer right now."

Before Olivia could explain further, her phone buzzed and she sat up in her seat to look at her texts. She takes a minute to read her messages. "It's Jordan. He's on his way with some of the team."

"Oh good. It'll be really nice for Spencer and Patience to have them here. Well then, we should probably get those snacks and head back out there."

"Good idea. Thanks, Ms. James." They both gather their things to head back to the vending machine.

"Don't think we won't talk about what's going with Spencer and your dad later."

"Yeah, I just keep opening my big mouth today, huh?"

"You blabbed. I blabbed. We'll call it even...and Olivia?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Please call me Ms. Grace."