Sad. Beautiful. Tragic. (BK1)

Episode 6: A Little Bit Stronger

Episode 6: A Little Bit Stronger

Anna sighed and stifled a yawn as she sat sideways in a cushioned hospital chair, awaiting Oliver's return to consciousness. Anna could now say she'd stayed awake all night—every last minute in the past twenty-four hours. She played back her memories of last night to keep herself awake...

Anna gasped as his identity became clear.

"Oh my god..." she said, quietly. "Oliver?"

she started to panic further, breathing heavily like she'd run a mile and she couldn't think. Then she froze. She remembered she'd strapped a small pouch to her thigh to hold the phone from the 'hood'. She pulled it out and tried calling, and to her surprise someone answered. "Hello?" came through the phone.

"Look, I know you're not the 'hood' because he's here with me bleeding out. I don't know what to do," Anna said.

"What happened?"

"He was shot," Anna said.

"Keep pressure on the wound. I'm sending someone to come help." The line went dead and Anna sighed frustratedly as she put the phone away. She held her hands tight and pressed on the wound, watching the color drain from Oliver's face. A few minutes later Anna twisted around when she heard the roof stairwell door open and close.

A dark skinned man Anna didn't recognize hurried next to her and knelt. He dropped a red bag on his other side and unzipped it open. He then slightly rolled Oliver over and found no exit wound. He gently lay him back down and sighed ruefully. "Anna?" he said.

She nodded and looked at him expectantly. "I'm gonna need your help with this. Can you focus?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good," she said, nodding uncertainly.

"Okay," he said, unzipping Oliver's hoody and opening it to reveal the gruesome looking wound. "You're not gonna throw up on me, are you?" Anna chuckled slightly and shook her head. He used his index finger and thumb to reach inside the wound and Anna gagged a bit. His fingers retreated and he pulled out a small bullet coated in blood.

He sat it beside them and pulled out a sewing kit. "Okay, Anna. This is where you come in. I need to hold the skin together," he said, put hand hand and fingers where they should be. "While I sew it. Can you do that?" she nodded and held the skin together as told.

He got the needle and thread from the kit and started sewing the skin Anna's fingers clamped together.

Anna readjusted in the chair and glanced over at Oliver. He'd regained his color about two hours after they brought him to the hospital.

Anna was the only one staying with him around the clock, whilst relatives were stopping by every hour or so and every time it would be a different person. She still didn't know what to think about Oliver being the 'hood'.

She hadn't paid any attention to it—she'd been too worried about him to care what mask he whore. She sat up and then stood, deciding to stretch her legs by pacing in slow, deliberate circles around the chair. Her arms were crossed and she fought to keep her eye lids open when Moira Queen walked in the hospital room door.

"I see letting you stay was a good idea," she mused, looking at Anna with a half-smile. Anna stopped pacing and forced her eyes to stay open all the way.

"I'm fine, really," Anna said. Moira walked over to Oliver's bedside and looked him over. "The nurse said he'd wake up in the next few hours and that was an hour ago," Anna said, joining her side. Moira nodded and turned to face Anna. "You look exhausted, Anna. You should get some sleep," she said.

Anna shook her head. "I wanna be here when he wakes up," Anna said.

"You care for my son a lot," Moira pointed out.

"He saved my life. In more ways than one," Anna said.

"I got shot and you're arguing over who cares the most?"

Moira and Anna both startled at the sudden voice. They both looked at Oliver as he sat up. Anna went around Moira and quickly hugged him. He groaned slightly and chuckled as he hugged her back. She pulled back and looked worried. "Sorry, did I hurt you?" she asked.

"No, Anna, I'm fine," he said.

"You two obviously have a lot to talk about. I'll check back in a while later," Moira said. She turned and left the hospital room, leaving Anna and Oliver alone. Anna sat on the edge of the bed next to Oliver. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Anna asked, mocking the 'hood's tone of voice.

"Okay, so maybe I ended up being the one who almost died. But you still need to be more careful," Oliver said, with a smile.

"I'll be careful when you stop saving my life," Anna said, sarcastically.

"That might be a while," he said.

"I hope so," she said, semi-quietly, looking into his eyes. Neither one of them spoke for a second. Then Oliver put a hand on the back of her neck and pulled her forward so her lips met his. He pulled away a minute later. "You look tired," he said.

"Well, I have been awake for forty-eight hours," she said. He turned her around so that her back was against his chest and shoulder and put his arm around her. "Get some sleep then," he said.

She sighed, knowing it was no use trying to argue him on it, and nuzzled his neck. She leaned into him and closed her eyes. After a minute of fighting sleep she finally started to really drift off.

She knew she was probably just imagining it, but she thought she heard an "I love you" before completely falling asleep.