It Takes Two

Chapter 22

Eric immediately found Sookie in the waiting room, running over to her and enveloping her in a hug, pulling away after a few seconds.

“Is she all right?” he wondered frantically.

Sookie nodded. “She’s still in surgery. The doctor said she should make a full recovery, and that she got here just in time.”

Eric ran his shaking fingers through his hair. “It’s all my fault for not listening to her. I sent her off to school. There’s no telling what could have happened. Her appendix could have burst. God, if you didn’t bring her here when you did, I can’t even think about it. I owe you everything, Sookie. I’m a horrible father. What kind of man ignores his daughter’s pleas when she’s in so much pain? I should have seen it.”

“Don’t do this to yourself, sweetie. It’s not your fault, there’s no way you could have known this would happen.”

He shook his head. “But you listened to her; you got her here when it counted. Does she hate me?”

“She could never hate you,” Sookie explained.

Eric took her back in his arms, smothering kisses along her face, and then finally reaching her mouth. “I don’t know where I would be right now if you weren’t in my life.”

Tears formed at his declaration, squeezing him just as tight. “You’ll never have to worry about that.”

He wiped his own eyes of the tears he shed, giving her a small smile. “Where’s Emma?”

“I called Pam to come and get her. I figured you wouldn’t want her waiting around a hospital.”

Eric nodded, cupping her cheek tenderly. “You always think of everything. Thank you, my lover; I would be lost without you.”

Sookie knew that couldn’t be true, but it was nice to hear all the same. She took in a deep breath when the doctor arrived shortly after, praying that everything went smoothly.

“The surgery was a success, Olivia is doing very well. She’s unconscious at the moment, but should be awaking in the next hour or so. Before the operation, she asked for her mother to be the first person she sees.”

Sookie was stunned, wondering if Olivia was referring to her, but not knowing who else she could have been talking about.

Eric felt choked up, giving the doctor a nod. “Thank you,” he managed to get out, not knowing what else to say.

The doctor nodded as well, and then took off down the hall.

Sookie turned to Eric, the shock still written all over her features. “Did she call me her mother? She could have just been delirious, right? They gave her something to knock her out before the surgery, so maybe she didn’t know what she was saying at the time. It probably didn’t mean anything.”

Eric smiled at her adorable ramblings. “I think it means that she’s starting to see you as her mother. You saved her life, Sookie, that definitely means something. And when we get home, I’m going to show you just how much it means to me. If I lost my daughter today…” his voice trailed off, not able to finish that sentence. “I can’t even contemplate it, and I know you don’t think you did much, but it’s more than I could ever ask for.”

Sookie let him wrap her in his strong embrace, resting her head against his chest. For right now, everything was perfect, but if this wasn’t a stomach bug, then what was wrong with her?

* * * * *

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

Olivia gave a small smile, trying to sit up as best she could. “Better, it could have been worse.”

Sookie took in another breath. “Your father is here, and he feels terrible for what happened. He’s being pretty hard on himself and taking all the blame, but I know he’s very sorry. I think he’s worried to come in here, until you say it’s okay.”

Olivia rolled her eyes, knowing he was lurking outside of the door. Her dad could be such a dork sometimes. “You can come in, Daddy. I’m not mad at you.”

Eric walked in then, his eyes tearing up at the sight of his little girl in a hospital bed, but he forced a smile on his face. He sat at her side, taking one of her hands in his and pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I’m so sorry, baby. I should have listened to you. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Sure, you’re a grown up, you all make mistakes every now and then. I’ve lied before, it’s not like you had any reason to believe me. I promise I’ll never tell another lie, it sucks when no one believes you. I don’t ever wanna feel like that again. From now on, you’ll get nothing but the truth out of me.”

Eric was finding that very hard to consider, but he would take it. He wrapped his arms around her tiny frame, kissing the crown of her head. “I love you very much, sweetheart.”

“I love you, too,” she responded.

“I’ll just call Pam to let her know that everything is all right.”

When he was gone, Sookie took the seat he was vacating. “Could I ask you something?”

Olivia nodded, waiting for her to continue.

“The doctor mentioned that you wanted your mother. Were you referring to me?”

She smiled. “Duh, who else would I be talking about?”

Sookie smiled as well. “It’s just; you’ve never called me that before. I know you had a wonderful mother, and I could never take her place. I guess it just came as a surprise to me.”

“Is it okay I called you that?”

“Oh, yes, of course. I just didn’t know if you were quite there yet, but I definitely don’t mind hearing it,” Sookie told her.

Olivia glanced away from her gaze, letting out a breath before meeting Sookie’s eyes again. “I didn’t really get to know my mom, but I’m glad you’re with my dad. I would have hated for him to be alone. There was a time when I thought he would never move on, but it’s good that he has. You make him happy, and it’s not something I’ve seen in a while. It also means a lot that you care about us, anyone else would have just taken me to school and been done with it. You knew my dad could get mad, but you still brought me here. Only a mother would have risked that.”

Sookie wiped at her eyes, not even realizing she was crying. She had been really emotional these last few days. “It means a lot to hear you say that, and you girls are very important to me. I love you just as much as your father, nothing could ever change that.”

Olivia smiled, lying back down in bed.

Sookie could tell that she was tired, standing up to let her get some rest, and kissing her forehead before leaving the room. When she got back to the hall, it suddenly seemed a lot smaller. The air was thin, and Sookie was finding it hard to breathe. The last thing she remembered doing was clutching her stomach before everything went black.