You don't know Sullivan

It healed something in me to see blood drain out of Ophelia’s face, and how she could not move even as I walked past her.

I touched the cold metal that was the door handle and inhaled before I pushed the door open and walked into the ward. 

Blaine covered the entirety of the bed as he lay there.

I stood watching him for a few seconds with his eyes closed, the oxygen mask gone from his face, machine beeping, before I continued walking and his eyes opened when I stopped by the bed.

Those gray eyes made me shiver all the way to my toes, and I had a mind to run out of the room and out of the country and never look back.

“So you pretended to pass out yesterday,” I said. 

He squinted up at me in confusion. 

“Because how are you up and causing a riot so soon?” I said quietly as I realized for the first time that Oliver had his size and boisterous energy. 

How had I not noticed that since?

He was smiling now. “I told you I was strong.” he raised his hand to flex his arm, and I grimaced to see how weak he still actually was.

“That’s hard to believe,” I returned. 

He chuckled at this and winced, his hand going to his belly. 

“Take it easy,” I said anxiously, and he shook his head and turned back to smile at me. “They said I have your blood in my veins now.” He suddenly looked sad. 

“I hope I have not infected you with anything,” I said quickly to lighten the mood, feeling uncomfortable. 

I did not want anything that would cause us to get all emotional. I cried a year's worth of tears in that car last night.

And trauma-bonding was a thing. I hated how close I was beginning to feel to him already. 

He had saved me the time Ophelia had sent someone to run me over, saved me at the minister’s house, and now there was last night.

I hated that my mind was beginning to box him up in my dependable tab. 

I shivered when I felt his fingers touch mine, and looked down to see he had taken my hand in his.

“Trust me, I cannot be any more stubborn than I am.”

“What?” I frowned at him.

“What else would you infect me with if not your unbelievable stubbornness.” He said, and I smiled as I tried to pull my hand away from his, but he was surprisingly strong for someone so sick, because he held on to my hand firmly.

“You look tired, sit.”

“That would not look right.”

“I don’t care. Sit.” 

I looked at him and sighed in exasperation. “You will not make me argue with a sick man.” 

He chuckled as I sat on the couch beside his bed.

This was not right, but it was suddenly like I had no other option. He was stubborn and I did not want him to exert himself and die.

“Tell me,” he said gently. 

“You heard everything I said yesterday?” I asked, surprised. 

He nodded, “Up till that time you began to sob heavily, and I could not tell you I was fine.”

“I wish I never told you,” I said, looking down at my hand in his. “It will only distress you. I will take my revenge on Ophelia and you will have to stand back and watch, unable to do anything.”

“Why do you think I will stop you?” he said, and I looked up at him. 

“She is Olivia’s mother, so I cannot hurt as much as I want. You will be doing me a favor.”

“You cannot tell her you know about Oliver,” I said, and he was already frowning. “You don’t know your wife. She acts like this with so many things to lose. What do you think she will do when she has nothing to lose anymore?”

He grimaced in pain at this and looked away. And I knew he was thinking about how he was the cause of all this. 

I am sorry if that makes me a bad person, but I was happy to see that. 

He should taste a little of what pain from Ophelia felt like.

“I will make it all up to you. I promise I will,” he said, looking up at me. 

I pulled my hand out of his finally, and looked away. I did not need anything from Blaine.

What did he think he could do to fix my life? 

Would he wake my mother up? Turn my son’s ashes to flesh or bring back my innocence of the world’s cruelty, and my peace before all this began?

I felt his hand reaching out and almost flinched till I saw him touch my ash pendant, moving it in his fingers. “When can I see him, Ariel?” 

“I don’t know.” I stood up quickly, but he was grabbing my forearm before I could take a step. 

I looked down at him. “Do you realize how much danger that could put him in?”

“We will be careful.” 

I almost yelled that there was no way, and I was being this amiable with him simply for my son’s sake.

But he continued, “I cannot be without my son for much longer. It’s been fourteen months already,” he said.

“All that would not matter if he gets hurt.”

“He has more chances of getting hurt by Sullivan,” he said, and that stopped me short. 

In the past, that would have offended me, but after seeing the way Kan had been these past few days, I saw the truth in what he just said.

“Kan loves Oliver,” I said with conviction, because I knew this was true. 

“We are still his parents. Do you think anyone would care selflessly about him besides us?” He said gently, and as I stared down at him, I saw the old protective Blaine. 

The selflessly protective one I first met.

“You don’t know Sullivan. I have known him all my life and I don’t want my son to be there when he realizes the boy is no longer serving his purpose.”

I stood conflicted, even though my heart knew this was all true, it was hard to accept that Blaine was a better man and a better father for my Oliver so suddenly.