Poison Chapter 13

Poison
Chapter 13

“Looks like Cadmus Labs has officially folded. Again,” Chloe said, reading a file, then setting it down on Oliver’s desk. “At least on paper, anyway.” She stepped over to him, as he set down his suitcase near the elevator door. He’d needed to return to Star City, and his jet was leaving in an hour. After, not having been there in two weeks his presence was sorely missed.

“I’m just glad Lex seems to be staying away from the good doctor.”

“Well, if he won’t, he may permanently stay away from him soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you take away what Lex has to hold over the doctor’s head, then Lex has nothing really.”

“I still don’t get it.”

Chloe hesitated, biting her lip. “I’ve sort of offered to try to use my abilities to get the doctor’s wife out of her coma,” she said, diverting her eyes.

Oliver grasped her shoulders. “You what?”

“Lex was using Katherine McClellan as leverage,” she tried to explain away quickly.

“I don’t care, Chloe. I know, it’s unfortunate, and I know you want to help, but what happens to you, if you…” he couldn’t finish the thought. What if she were to enter a comatose state, unable to come out of it?

“What’s the point of having this ability, if I don’t use it, Oliver?”

“If using it means you could die? Or become comatose like Katherine McClellan? When were you going to tell me about this? After it was too late? Did you think I’d find out after I was already in Star City? Why would you do this?”

“Because I knew you’d react this way.”

“And why shouldn’t I?”

“You’re always on after Clark, telling him there are more important things in the world besides ourselves and what we want, yet here you are thinking only of yourself.”

“That was different!”

“How?”

“I’ve learned that there is a way to balance both. I can have someone I love alongside me, and still make sacrifices for the world. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing, one way or the other.” He paused a moment, rubbing her shoulders, his voice becoming soft again. “Chloe, some things aren’t worth the risk, and part of balancing both worlds is knowing when not to take that risk.”

“If you knew you could help someone, wouldn’t you?”

“But you don’t know that it will work, and you don’t know what affect it will have on you, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take.”

“You take risks with your life, every time you wear the green leather, I’ve never stopped you, not once.”

“This is different, Chloe! It just.. it just is!”

“It’s not your choice, Oliver.”

He released her, his entire being deflating at her words. “You’re right. It’s not.” He shook his head. “But I can’t stand by and watch the woman I love put her life in danger.”

She moved away from him, grabbed up her purse from the desk, slinging the bag over her shoulder, and stepping toward the elevator. “You won’t have to. You’ll be in Star City by then.”

“Chloe!”

Once inside the elevator, she turned to face him, tears in her eyes. “I love you, Oliver. More than I can ever say, more than you know. But you’re not the only one here that has a calling, and you’re not the only one whose heart breaks just a little every time the person they love goes off to save someone else. It’s part of what we do. Please understand. I have to do this.”

“Chloe.”

The elevator closed and Oliver paced the room. He took his cell phone out of his pocket, dialing, running a hand through his hair as he waited. “Cancel my flight to Star City. I don’t know yet when I’ll be back… no, I’ll notify you. Thanks.”

* * * * *

He’d gone to the doctor’s home first, finding only Ella Bradley there with the children. She’d told him that Ms. Sullivan and Dr. McClellan had left only minutes before and gave him the address of the long-term care facility where Katherine McClellan was a patient. Oliver drove like a madman to get there, parking his car and practically running to the information desk. Getting the room number from the attendant, he’d had to navigate through various corridors and take an elevator to Mrs. McClellan’s room. Just as he’d arrived, entering the doorway, the room was filled with bright light nearly blinding him.

Dr. McClellan was standing on the opposite side of the bed, not really knowing what to expect, his face a mask of shock and incredulity. She’d healed him a few days before, but it was nothing like this. Oliver, shielding his eyes, moved toward where he thought Chloe to be, and when the light faded, he reached for her, sliding to his knees as she collapsed, falling into his arms before she could hit the floor. “No!”

Dr. McClellan rounded the bed, looking down at them worriedly, panicked. “Mr. Queen, I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize. I-I didn’t know.”

Oliver held her close, squeezing his eyes shut, and pressing his forehead against her cheek. “No.”

“She never said this would happen, Mr. Queen. Please, believe me, I never would have…”

“Stephen?” A woman’s voice, a whisper, faint, hoarse and groggy could be barely be heard from the bed.

Both Dr. McClellan and Oliver turned toward the voice in disbelief. It was only then that Oliver noticed all the IV’s and tubes connected to her, and all the medical equipment in the room.

“Katherine?” The doctor moved to his wife’s side as she struggled to open her eyes, her lips moved attempting to speak, but her voice wouldn’t come to her easily, after a year of disuse. “Katherine! No, don’t speak, it’s fine. You’re fine. I’m here,” Dr. McClellan said as he stroked his wife’s dark hair.

Oliver watched them for a moment, then gazed down at Chloe. He shifted her in his arms, gathering her up, and rocking back on his feet, he lifted her and stood. In a daze, he began walking out of the room, cradling her limp body in his arms. He thought he heard Dr. McClellan call after him, but he continued walking numbly down the corridor.

“Mr. Queen.” The doctor trotted up alongside him. “Mr. Queen.” Oliver finally stopped and turned, appearing as though he were utterly lost and despondent, in some confused stupor. The doctor checked Chloe’s pulse. “Mr. Queen, she’s alive. Come with me.” Oliver simply looked at him. “It’s okay, come with me,” he repeated, gently nudging Oliver’s shoulder, turning him around.

Oliver followed him to an empty room where the doctor instructed him to lay her on the bed. Immediately two nurses entered, and began to remove Chloe’s clothes and prep an IV.

Oliver finally found his voice. “What are you doing? Leave her alone.”

“It’s all right, Mr. Queen.”

“Leave her alone,” he said with finality, and the nurses took their leave, practically scurrying out of the room.

--

Three days. He’d barely eaten, barely showered, barely slept, and hadn’t shaved in three days. The team couldn’t convince him to leave her side. He wouldn’t take calls from his assistants. He was angry with her. He was scared to death. He was tired. The nurses had finally convinced him to allow them to dress her in a hospital gown and administer an IV.

“Ollie.”

Oliver lifted his head from her bed, where he’d pulled up a chair and was napping face down next to her. He rubbed his eyes.

“Ollie. Come on, man. Let’s get something to eat, you know I’m always up for some grub.”

Oliver sat up, blinking, rubbing his face again tiredly. “No, you go on, Bart, I want to be here when she wakes up.”

“Yeah and you’ll scare the hell out of her, you look like shit, man. Let’s go.”

“Clark says she’s never been out this long,” Oliver murmured almost to himself.

Bart hesitated, not sure he should say anything. He shrugged, plunging ahead anyway. “I know this is hard, Ollie, but she wanted to do this.”

“Yeah, and that makes it harder.”

“You think it’s any easier for her?”

Oliver looked up at him then, and Bart could see the weariness in his eyes.

“I mean, she gets to hear it all go down. You get hurt, she has to hear that, and not be near you when it happens. No one said it was fair, but if you don’t want her in this, then maybe you should tell her.”

“It’s not.. it’s not that.”

Bart, emboldened now continued, before his boss decided to kick his ass, of course, he’d have to catch him first. “Seems that way to me. You want her to be more careful, you don’t want her to take unnecessary risks, well, then maybe you should do the same. It goes both ways, amigo. All that time, that you were infected, she did everything she could to get you back…”

“And I’d have done the same for her,” Oliver defended.

“So why can’t you do this for her now? It’s like, you want her to do something for you, that you won’t do for her. I mean, I get it. I do. If Chloelicious were my girl, I’d be thinking the same thing you’re thinking, but if I wanted to keep her with me, and in all of this other stuff that we do, then…” Bart shrugged.

Oliver looked down at his lap. “I know,” was all he said quietly. He had told her that he’d learned how to balance his personal life with his superhero one, but the truth was, he hadn’t changed much of his behavior at all. He still went out on patrols; he still endangered his life every time he was the Green Arrow. The only difference was that for the first time, he was in love with a woman who was a partner in his work. She understood it, she accepted it, but the truth was, he didn’t take any less risk with his life since he’d known her.

When Oliver didn’t say anything else, Bart turned to leave, sensing the conversation was pretty much over. “Sure you don’t want anything?”

Oliver shook his head. “I’m okay.”

* * * * *

The nurses had offered to set up another bed for him, but he’d refused it, preferring the reclining chair or laying his head next to her. That night, he’d awoken to a small, familiar hand stroking his hair and cheek.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this much scruff before. I kind of like it. Very sexy.”

He lifted his head, blinking in the dimness of the room, half awake, looking up at her. “Hey.”

Even in the low light of the room, Chloe could see how terribly worry worn, and haggard he looked, it made her heart ache, twisting in her chest painfully. “I’m sorry, Ollie,” her voice broke, as tears began to form in her eyes. She’d gone off and done something without thinking of how it might affect him. She’d helped someone else, but what had it done to the man she loved? How did one decide which came first? Did you save others? Did you save the world, or did you save the ones you loved from pain and heartache? “I’m so sorry,” she wept.

He climbed into the bed with her, scooting her over, and enfolding her in his arms. She sobbed into his t-shirt. “Shhh,” he soothed, pulling her close and stroking her hair. “How many times have I worried you?” he whispered. “I still don’t think we’re even after this.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, his stubble scraping her skin, Chloe loved it, and loved him for what he’d done, staying with her until she awoke. “I’m just glad I have you back.”

She nodded against him sniffling, her breath shuddering as her tears subsided.

“Katherine McClellan is doing well, improving every day. She still has her ability though, but that doesn’t seem to matter to her now that she’s back,” he told her. “And I’ve offered Dr. McClellan a research position with Queen Industries. Once his wife is on her feet again, she can join him. She’d like to meet you.”

Chloe was simply happy to hear his voice speaking softly into the dimness of the room, her ear pressed to his chest, the vibrations sounding like heaven.

“I know what we do is not easy, Chloe. The lives we live, they aren’t exactly normal.”

“That’s an understatement, coming from a man who cavorts around at night in green leather,” she sniffled and laughed simultaneously.

He smiled. “True. But… what I’m trying to say is, when you find someone that you want to have a life with, something, some kind of stability… I want this, us… to work, Chloe. And that means some compromises, and joint decisions for both of us.”

“I agree. Wait, are you saying you want a life with me?”

“Yes.”

“Is this a marriage proposal?”

“A very bad one.”

“I never expected to be proposed to in a hospital bed.”

“I can still get down on one knee.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Marry me, Watchtower.”

“Yes, Arrow. Yes.”

The End!