Not more than twenty-four hours after leaving Hong Kong, Sandra arrived in Starling City. She felt oddly welcomed by the city. It had been a long time since she had been here.
A quick taxi drive took her from the airport to Starling City General, where Oliver was waiting both for her, and for the doctors to release him back to his family. She wasn't surprised by the pool of paparazzi and reporters swarming the entrance of the hospital, like sharks in a feeding frenzy. This was the story of the year: billionaire playboy back from the dead, rescued from deserted island. She could see the headlines now.
Sandra found her own way in, slipping through the backdoor without any trouble. Soon after, she turned down a hallway in search of Oliver's room, still carrying her suitcase and dufflebag.
She stopped outside the door, reading the name, 'Queen, Oliver', on the name plate. Tentatively, she pushed it open.
A board-stiff man stood by the window, his back turned to her. She could practically hear the thoughts raging in his head; echoes of her own, she was sure. Sandra's eyes met his through the reflection of the window, and immediately he turned towards her. As she set her belongings down against the wall, she grappled with the distant shock she felt upon seeing him. His hair had been chopped down to a respectable length, his chin cleanly shaven. She couldn't remember the last time she saw him with short hair - or looking almost... normal.
"Hey, Oliver," she breathed out.
A grin reached his face - a genuine one. "Hey, San'."
She mirrored his smile with a weak one of her own, moving forward to wrap her arms around him. No words passed between the two for a moment. For a few seconds, Sandra was content enough with the silence. Being here - somewhere safe, comfortable - was different for them. In all the years that she had known Oliver, Sandra's life had been one awful circumstance after another. She hadn't known peace. Now, for the first time in too many months to count, she felt like she could breathe normally; for a brief moment, no death, destruction, or pain weighed down on her.
"We made it," she eventually whispered.
Oliver nodded, finally breaking the embrace. "We made it."
Just as they parted, the door opened once again. Sandra turned around to see a woman who bore a striking resemblance to her friend. She had blonde hair and a steel-sharpened face, and possessed the same naturally-piercing gaze as Oliver. Sandra immediately knew her to be Oliver's mother.
"Alright, I talked to the doctors and they agreed to let you out a few hours early, that is if you're feeling up to it-" She took an abrupt stop when she noticed the other person in the room. "Oh."
"You must be Moira," Sandra said politely, giving the woman a smile. "Oliver's told me a lot about you."
She could almost make it sound like she had simply met Oliver in a coffee shop, where they exchanged phone numbers and made polite conversation over lattes. Oh, how wrong that was.
"Oh, well, I wish I could say the same about you," Moira replied, stepping forward. Her words could have been received as hostile, but Sandra didn't find her to be overly-defensive. She could only assume Moira always spoke like this - like a calm, collected businesswoman, which may not be far off. "Oliver, who's this?"
YOU ARE READING
Shiva (Arrow - Oliver Queen)
Fanfiction"You don't have to be here." "Yes, I do. Because your fights are my fights." ~~~~~ Sandra Wu-San has been through hell and back. She learned how to survive through blood and ruthlessness. Through it all, Sandra had one person that she was abl...
