My Forever (Canary Series) (10 page)

She laughed and looked down as she blushed and he moved so he could look at her and direct her to look at him. "That was a
happy tear," she finally said.

He laughed, "Well no more tears of any kind tonight. Tonight we celebrate
something special." He took her in his arms and carried her to the blanket. As he walked she wrapped her arms around his neck. Once they got to the blanket he set her down gently and moved to where he was behind her and sat down. He opened up his legs and she moved so she sat between them and leaned into his chest.

"This is absolutely perfect, but it must have taken you a long time to get it all planned. And when did you have the time do to it? When you weren't in class you were w
ith me."

"I have my ways and they are called friends. I asked some of our friends to help me out with this. We all agreed that you have been through so much that you deserved a nice night away from everything and just needed to relax and not think about anything. This is a
ll for you Canary, I love you."

She turned around and smiled at him, "I love you
, too." They just stared at each other taking everything in.

"You don't know how long I have wanted to tell you how I feel. I tried so many times, but they never felt rig
ht. I wanted it to be special."

"Is that why you had me sing that song earlier?" He nodded, "You knew about
that song, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. I saw it one day and had expected you to sing it to I
an one day, but you never did."

"I didn't, because it never felt right to sing it to him
."

"But it felt right to sing i
t to me?" Olivia nodded, "Why?"

"Well, there
is a bit of a back story to the song," she said and then turned around and leaned back into him again.

He took his arms and wrapped them around her
, holding her close, "What's the story? I would like to hear it."

"I don
't know, it might sound crazy."

He laughed, "Canary, I assure you that it won't sound crazy to me. I want to
know these things about you. I want to know what inspires your music and the stories behind your songs."

Olivia took a deep breath and prepared herself for what she was about to tell him, which was something she
had never told anyone before. "The song is about you Cole. I wrote it the night after we all really hung out that first time before Ian and I ever got together. I thought what it would be like to be your girlfriend and to be the one that you would fall in love with. I imagined what it would be like to hear you tell me that you love me and how you would react when I told you I love you. That song was written from those feelings, those ideas and it was one of those songs that wouldn't stop playing in my head until I wrote it down. In a way it's how I imagined I would feel when we first said 'I love you' to each other. To be honest though, I never thought that we would end up here."

"Why is that Liv?"

"Because of our past, you were Ian's best friend and I was his girlfriend. I didn't think that you would want to be part of my life after he died."

Nate loosened up his hold on her enough to be able to turn her around so she could see his face when he talked to her, "Olivia, don't ever think like that. I have loved you s
ince the first time I saw you."

She wanted to hide her face but couldn't, his eyes kept her captured
. "I remember that day. It was at Cedar Country before I started here at Oakwood." He shook his head and looked down and took her hands in his and gave them a sweet gentle kiss then looked back up at her. "If it wasn't there then where was it? Because I know I have never been in Emersonville before and when I went to Cedar Country it was during the school year so you wouldn't have been there."

"It has nothing to do with Cedar Country," Nate said
, a little unsure if he should tell her about their parents knowing each other yet. After thinking about it he decided against it and tried to figure out what to say that would work. "I visited Boston with a friend’s family one holiday and we visited Walden Pond. I was walking around enjoying the relaxing sensation that one gets from the woods and noticed this gorgeous young lady sitting on this bolder just reading away. People were taking photos, kids were screaming and running around, there were even some people throwing a ball around while running in between the trees and not once did she look up and take notice of everything that was going on.

“
I knew right then and there that there was something special about her.” He smiled as he remembered that day. He wasn’t lying about Walden Pond; he just lied about when he went. 

“As I headed towards that angel she closed her book
, got her stuff and stood up. She then looked around at what was going on and left. I followed her a little bit, trying to get the nerve to just run up to her and talk to her. When I finally do she stops and gives this guy a hug, she hands him her bag and leaves with him. I was heartbroken, but then she turned around and smiled. I don't know if she saw me or sensed me or even noticed me; but that smile was what grabbed my heart fully and I fell in love with her. I didn't know who she was or anything and I never believed in love at first sight in my life.

“
That all changed when I saw her. Then Ian and I were at Cedar Country hanging out and getting some shopping for school done when you ran into him. When I came and saw you it was like everything made sense. Our trips to Cedar Country seemed to always end up getting cancelled, we hadn't planned on going that day but I woke up and something told me to go. So I called Ian and asked him if he had any plans for the day. When he said no I told him to get ready, that I was on my way and we were going to Cedar Country. Once we got there we just walked around at first checking out things, catching up with friends that we ran into but mostly just chilled. I had gone to get something to drink and when I walked out I saw her, I saw you. I knew right then and there that it was fate, which is another thing I never believed in until you, that we were there. But you were talking to Ian and flirting and I don't know why but I got jealous. I couldn't bring myself to come up to you guys and introduce myself. So when you left I walked up and slapped him upside the head."

"Oh
wow, I didn't know that. I’m so sorry."

"Why are you sorry? It isn't your fault that I was nervous and couldn't bring myself to come up to you." He reached out for her and she moved closer and he rearranged them so that she was sitting on his lap sideways and he held her close. "When you showed up at the train station to come to Oakwood I got really excited. I just knew that we would end up becoming friends, but
hoped for something more. When you and Ian started hanging out a lot I knew you two would end up together. I was happy for him; that he finally found a girl he wanted to settle down with, but a part of me hated it because I wanted to be the one who would hold you close when you were sad, the one you came to when you needed help, the one that you loved and it hurt to be standing on the sidelines. I never thought that I would have ever been jealous of my best friend dating someone, but then you came along and proved me wrong Canary. There is just something about you that made me want to be a better man, to prove to myself that I deserve you, that made me want to be happy and believe in a happy ending.

“
I hated seeing you so hurt when Ian died. When he died a part of you died and that caused a part of me to die. I don't know what was worse, him dying or having to watch you go through all of that. I promised myself that I would be there for you no matter what, but I never thought that while I was helping you heal that you were helping me heal." He closed his eyes to keep the tears that were building in his eyes from falling, but failed. When he opened them and looked at Olivia he couldn't help but smile while the tears fell.

She used her free hand to wipe away the tears and smiled, "Since we are being honest here I noticed you in Boston. I did look up from my book but in a way where no one could tell and stole glances of you. I was mesmerized by you, when I left and turned around and smiled I could sense you and that smile was for you. I only wish that I
had gotten up the nerve to have gotten up and gone to talk to you. If I saw you at Cedar Country I would have gone up to you and introduced myself to you, but I didn't. Like I said earlier, that song that you had me sing was about you. I love you Nathaniel Cole Bowen. And I’m the type to believe that everything happens for a reason, it sucks that Ian is dead and I miss him, but if he hadn't died we wouldn't be together and we wouldn't be as close as we are. Don't you notice that, because of his death, we healed each other and we have grown stronger in this relationship, whatever it is, and have gotten closer?"

He smiled and brought her close to where their lips were almost touching, "I love you Olivia Carman McGuire." He then leaned in and kissed her. It was so soft and gentle like it was something that they ha
d done for years and will do for the rest of their lives.

Olivia broke the kiss and turned around
. He opened up his legs so she could settle down in between them and lean back against him again. He reached into the picnic basket and started taking some food out so she could eat. Once he got some of the food out he set it beside him and picked up some grapes, "Here Canary, you need to eat something." She didn’t say anything or turn her head to eat the grape. "Come on Canary, I know you may not want to eat anything but you do need to eat something." When he didn't get a response he put the grapes down and moved so he could look at her. When he looked at her he noticed that her eyes were closed and she wasn't responding to him.

He shook her some to try and get her to wake up but when she didn't he started
to get scared, "Canary? Come on Canary, wake up, please." He shook her again and she still didn't wake up, "Olivia, please, wake up. This isn't funny anymore." He started to get worried. When she started to shiver that’s when he started to get really scared. Nate didn't know what was going on or what to do so he stood up, took her into his arms and rushed her to the Medical Building. As he was running he was praying that she would be OK and that nothing was seriously wrong, but he could feel it in his gut that something wasn't right.

He arrived at the
Medical Building and stormed in, "PLEASE, ANYONE, I NEED HELP! THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH OLIVIA!" Nurses rushed in, took her from his arms, placed her on a gurney and rushed her into a treatment room. Nate tried to follow them but one nurse stopped him at the doors and told him that he needed to go wait in the waiting room. He made his way to the room and sat down; he couldn't sit still so he started pacing the room waiting for someone to come and tell him what is going on. He looked up at the clock and noticed that only two minutes had passed. He knew that this was going to be a long night.

While Nate was pacing the waiting room Christine was in her room studying when all of a sudden there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she said. The door opened slowly until she was able to see Garrett standing there. He was looking around to see if Olivia was there, when he noticed that Christine was in the room alone he went over to her bed and fell back on it. Christine could tell that he was upset about something so she closed her book, walked over to her bed and laid down beside him, "What's wrong, Hayes?"

He turned his head so that he could look at her, "I royally screwed up
, Christy."

"First off, I'm sure that's not true. S
econdly, how did you screw up?"

He took a deep breath, "A
fter I left the living area I came up here and started attacking Liv. I yelled at her and fought with her. I said things that I didn't mean."

"Like what?"

"Well, I told her that I don't trust Nate and that she is making a big mistake going to Emersonville after the school term instead of coming home to Boston and staying with me and my family. And then I said that I must not be important to her anymore or else she would have come to me about her mom dying and her father disowning her."

Christine sat up and took a pillow and hit him, "Now why wou
ld you do something like that?"

"Because I love her and I'm jealous of Nate and angry that she went to him instead of me like she
used to. Since when did I come in second?"

She got up and walked back over to
her desk and took a photo out of a notebook that was of Olivia, Garret and her. It was recently taken and she and Olivia were laughing, but he looked at Olivia as if she were still broken. Christine walked back over to Garrett and handed him the photo. "This is probably the reason why she doesn't come to you anymore." She went back to her desk to let him look at the photo alone and think.

After a few moments he look
ed at Christine, "Do I really look at her like that?"

"Yeah
, you do," she said without turning around to look at him.

"But don't
we all look at her like that?"

Christine turned in her chair and placed her arms on the back, "We did, but then we stopped. You never did stop looking at her like she was damaged. And you treat her like she is going to break at any moment, where as we treat her normally. Then you have Nate who treated her with nothing but respect, love, care, and
like normal. He was there for her when you gave up."

He sat straight
up, "I didn't give up on her."

"Oh Hayes, you did. Sad thing is
, she did nothing to deserve it."

"You have no c
lue what you're talking about."

"Don't I? Ask anyone here in this house
. Shoot, ask anyone at this school, about how you look at Liv and they will say the same thing. You may love her, but your actions and facial expressions don't show it. So you might want to rethink things here. As for your jealousy, get over it. You just need to move on. The cold hard truth, and I say this with love, is that you two will never be together."

"You don't know that. This might just be a phase for her. We could end up being
the happily ever after couple."

Christine laughed, "Do you hear yourself? You sound like a chick. She dated Michael before you and he abuse
d her. And before him was Ian."

"
And we all saw how that ended."

She took her ball that she played with while studying or working on homework and chunked it at him, "You are an insensitive little prick. Ian was murdered. It's not like they had a choice to break-up. No
wonder Liv got pissed at you."

"Whatever."

"See, this is why you two will never ever be together. But the fact that Nate and she love each other plays a huge part in it. Did you know that she has started writing music again?" He shook his head no then looked down. "I didn't think so. It's because of Nate. So you need to man up and just move on. Take some time away and separate yourself from everything for a while. She is going through enough as it is. She needs to be surrounded by people who are positive, not negative like you. Now get out, I'm tired of looking at you. You're face makes me angry and sick right now."

Christine turned back around and
started studying again. Garrett stood up and approached her desk. He placed her ball back in its stand. "I'm sorry," he said and then turned to leave.

He was almost at the door when Christine’s phone went off. "Bowen, what’s up?’” She put down her highlighter as she listened to Nate. “Wait, what happened?" Garrett stopped and turned to look at Christine. By the look on her face
he knew something wasn't right. "Crap! OK, we're on our way!" She hung up and stood up quickly.

"What's going on?"

"Olivia passed out or something and Nate took her to the Medical Building because she wasn't responding to him," she said as she ran down the stairs with Garrett running after her. They both grabbed their coats, rushed out of Mapleleaf and ran the entire way to the Medical Building.

***

Once Nate hung up the phone with Christine he crouched down in the corner and started to cry. He couldn't understand why any of this was happening. It wasn't fair, they finally said that they love each other, they had their first kiss, but they hadn't talked about if they were officially a couple yet. He kept thinking about 'What if she doesn't wake up' or 'what if she doesn't survive.' They didn't have a chance to be a couple. 'Why did I wait so long to say how I felt?' He kept asking himself over and over again.

"Bowen, what the hell is going on? Have you
heard anything?" Christine asked, out of breath from running. She rushed to Nate and he just grabbed her and cried. In all the years she had known him he never broke down and cried like this. Not when his mom died, not even when Ian died; she didn't know what to do except hold him.

"I told her."

"You told her what?"

"I told her that I love her and she said it back. We're in love and I can't lose her. I just can't
!" He cried harder and she just rubbed his back.

"It's going to be OK. Liv is a fighter and a survivor. She is strong," she said
, trying to calm him down. She looked to her right and saw Garrett sitting in a chair looking pale. She knew that he regretted what he said, but being faced with this really hit him hard. "Are you OK Hayes?" she asked, worried about him. All he did was shake his head. She pulled away from Nate and helped him to a chair. "How about I go and get us all some water. I think we could use it to help calm us down." The guys both nodded and she turned to leave the waiting room.

Just as she reached the door the doctor and nurse came in. She followed them over to where Nate was and stood beside him when he stood up. "What’s wrong doc? Is she going to be OK?" Nate asked while trying not to c
ry.

"Nathaniel, Olivia is a very sick young lady. She will be OK, but we're going to be keeping her here for a w
hile," the doctor informed him.

"How long is a while?"

The nurse and the doctor looked at each other and then the nurse looked at him, "Nate, Olivia is going to have to stay here until school is over. Then we will check her progress and see if she can go home or if we will have to transfer her to a hospital for her to continue to receive her treatments as an inpatient where they can monitor her around the clock."

"The last time she was sick thi
s didn't happen," Garrett said.

"Well
Mr. Hayes, that's because this time it's more serious. Her body was weaker to start with," the nurse told him.

"How is that possible? The last time she had been so busy with everything she was doin
g. How is her body weaker now?"

"
Well, partly it’s because she had a rough emotional time this past year. You live in the same neighborhood as she does, correct Mr. Hayes?" the nurse asked. He just nodded to confirm that. "Then maybe you can tell me where she got the scars on her back and legs and the healed fractures on her ribs, arms and legs."

Both Nate and Christine looked at him. Christine knew where they came from and decided that if he didn't tell the truth she would. Nate didn't have a clue what the nurse was talking about but was interes
ted in what Garrett had to say.

Garrett took a deep breath be
fore he explained what happened. He looked at Nate when he spoke, "Last summer when we returned home Olivia was a mess. Her parents didn't want to have to deal with her in the state she was in so they used some kind of mixture of drugs to make her numb and forget things, mostly to forget Ian. So they told her that she was dating this guy named Michael, he goes to St. Vincent Academy. All three of us use to be best friends. Well, I guess they figured that because his family was in the same circle as them and because he was training to join them, that he was the best one to be her 'boyfriend.'

“
I was angry that they would think that he was the best guy for their daughter. He had changed since he started going to that school and Olivia and I stopped hanging out with him. Anyway, Michael ended up abusing her. He would beat her, call her horrible names and just treat her like she was nothing but his own personal piece of property." He kept looking at Nate and saw so many different emotions flash in his eyes. He wasn't sure if he should continue so he asked Nate with his eyes and Nate nodded his approval.

Garrett took another deep breath to get the nerves to calm down before he continued. "She always would come to my house crying, bruised and bleeding after his attacks. My parents and I would fix her u
p and we tried to protect her."

"Obviously you guys didn't try hard enough," Nate said
, interrupting Garrett.

"Nathaniel," Christine said softly. Nate
looked at her, shocked that she said his first name. He looked down and closed his eyes. She looked at Garrett, "Sorry about that, Hayes."

"No need to apologize. He's right, we should have tried harder. But there
was only so much we could do. It also didn't help that her parents would always give her something to forget what happened. It went on all summer long. So, when we came back to school and she detoxed all the memories came rushing back like a dam had broken." He looked at Christine, "So yes, I may still look at her like she could break any moment, but that's because I know what she went through. That's why I'm very protective of her." When he got done he looked at Nate with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry I never told you any of this before. I guess I figured that she would have told you earlier."

Nate shook his head, "No
, she didn't tell me. But it's a good thing she didn't or else I would have gone during break and gave Michael a lesson."

Garrett nodded then turned to the nurse and the doctor, "So that's why she has all those spots. Is that part of the rea
son for her body being weaker?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes, that on top of the emotional stress and stress from school.
But knowing that her parents gave her the drugs and for a prolonged period of time also played a part in making her weaker. Those aren't meant to be used for that long so thank you for telling us about that. I will go and make notes in her chart about the marks and what she has been through." He turned around and left the waiting room.

"What do we do now?" Chri
stine asked.

"W
hen can I see her?" Nate asked.

The nurse placed her hand on his shoulder, "I will take you to see her soon. We are still
getting her settled in a room."

"Will I be able
to stay with her?" Nate asked.

"Yes Nathaniel, I already requested that we have a fold out chair be put in the room for you. As for your
question Ms. McCormack about what we do now; we are going to start her treatments tomorrow and all we can do is wait and handle the side effects as they come. Don't worry, she is in good hands. I do recommend that you pack a bag for her and bring her some stuff tomorrow," the nurse said.

"W
hy not tonight?" Garrett asked.

"Because Mr. Hayes, you guys need your sleep and she needs her
rest."

"But Nate gets to stay," G
arrett said, a little bit angry.

Christine went to him and placed her hand on his shoulder and looked him in his eyes, "
Remember what I said earlier about needing to separate yourself?"

He nodded, "I'm sorry. You're right
. We should go back to the house, get some sleep and come back tomorrow." He looked to Nate, "Is there anything we can bring you tomorrow? Is there anything special we can pack for Olivia?"

Nate smiled, "
Can you pack me a bag of clothes? And also we are going to need our school books. Oh, and Christy, can you get Canary's music notebook from the piano bench? I know she will want it as well as plenty of pens, pencils and highlighters."

"You got it Bowen
.”