Chapter Text
Raisa was home in Oliver's new loft with William as Oliver headed back to the hospital. Diggle was already home recuperating under Lyla's care, but Felicity and Thea were still in the hospital. Thea was in a coma that were hoping she wake up from when her body healed itself enough.
He first went to Felicity's room, but as he entered and abruptly stopped when he noticed the bed empty. He frowned before looking in the bathroom, but when he found that empty, he went straight to the nurses' station.
"Where's Felicity Smoak?" He asked urgently.
"In her room, Mr. Queen."
"I was just in there and she's not there..." Oliver said in panic. She was healing, but she still needed to be in bed not wandering around the hospital.
"We'll find her, she couldn't have gone far. I just checked on her ten minutes ago." The nurse said as she picked up her phone to alert the staff to look for Felicity.
The hospital staff and Oliver started to search the halls for Felicity, but as they searched someone found a computer that had Thea's chart pulled up.
"It looks like someone might have hacked this computer....Thea Queen’s chart is up."
"I know where she is." Oliver said as he turned and walked towards his sister's room.
She had been asking about Thea, but he hadn't gone into detail about her condition. It looked like she had decided to find out on her own.
That's exactly where he found her...
*****ARROW*****
Earlier...
Felicity needed to make sure Thea was okay and since no one was telling her exactly what was going on, she decided to go find out by herself. First, she hacked one of the hospital computers she found in a secluded hallway to find Thea's room number and her chart. Then after reading about some of her injuries, she headed to Thea's room.
As she snuck in, she was prepared to hear Thea greeting her with something like, "my brother is going to kill you" or "I wondered when you would find me" but she heard nothing as she turned to see Thea.
Felicity gasped as she saw Thea's state, it was Ra's all over again. She looked the same as when she was in that coma. Not again....Oliver didn't deserve this. Thea didn't deserve this, not after everything she went through.
Felicity shuffled over to Thea since she had a cast on her lower leg and couldn't exactly walk very well. Which is why she was supposed to be in bed and not walking around. She was currently supposed to be on bedrest and she could only get up with assistance. Well she proved them wrong and got up and to Thea's room without any assistance. She was out of breath though.
"Thea?" Felicity said softly as she hesitantly reached out her hand to touch her hand. "Please wake up..." she said quietly.
When nothing changed, Felicity closed her eyes. It was all her fault. She should have protected her...stopped her from going after Samantha, but instead she let her go and ran for the plane. She failed her, she failed Oliver.
"Fe-li-ci-ty...." Oliver scolded as he came into the room to find he was right. "You shouldn't be out of bed." She was standing, cast and all, beside Thea's bed in her hospital gown and robe.
"She's...." Felicity started without turning to Oliver, but keeping her eyes on Thea's still form. She had latched on to Thea's hand at some point.
Oliver closed his eyes at the sadness he heard in Felicity's voice. He walked up to her and put a hand on her back, just above her waist. "She can still come out of this." Oliver said, hoping for the best.
Felicity was still staring at Thea. "It's my fault..." she whispered mostly to herself.
"What?" Oliver frowned, wondering how she could ever blame herself for something so out of her control, well maybe he could understand, but this was definitely not her fault. His fault? maybe. Chase fault? Definitely. Not hers though.
"I...I should have stopped her....shouldn't have let her go after Samantha...she told me to go back to the plane and I did, but I should have made her come with me. Then she might be okay."
"Felicity." Oliver said softly.
Felicity didn't turn to him still as she continued to stare at Thea.
"Felicity." Oliver said again as he turned Felicity to him. As he did, he saw the tears in her eyes ready to fall.
"She doesn't deserve this, Oliver. Not again...not after Malcolm dying..." Felicity told him sadly.
"I know, she doesn't, but that doesn't make this your fault. None of what happen is your fault. You did nothing wrong, Felicity."
"But if I..."
"No. I know my sister. She wouldn't have listened to you. She's very stubborn and I asked her to keep you and Samantha safe. She was probably just trying to honor that by going after Samantha." Oliver told her firmly.
"But if I could have convinced her to come with me, she might not be in a coma right now." Felicity said as the tears started fall from her eyes.
Oliver couldn't stand to see her cry so he took her into his arms in a hug to comfort her.
"I'm sorry, Oliver..." Felicity mumbled after a minute.
Oliver sighed before pulling away from her. She took it wrong as a panicked look flashed across her face. He framed her face with his hands as if he was holding the precious thing on earth. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Felicity. Please believe me. You did nothing wrong. This was all Chase. It's his fault that Thea was hurt, that you were hurt...but not yours, it was never yours." He told her firmly as he looked into her eyes, willing her to believe him. "Okay?"
Felicity closed her eyes and nodded.
"What happened to Diggle wasn't your fault either, you know?"
Felicity opened her eyes quickly. "He came back for me and got hurt. He should have been on the plane." She said firmly.
Oliver smiled. "You know Diggle better than that. He would never leave you to fend for yourself. Anyway, we agreed in the beginning to protect you and we both take that very seriously. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you."
"Wait...what? You agreed in the beginning?" Felicity asked in confusion.
"When you first signed on with us, Diggle and I agreed to protect you. It's the only way that we were okay with letting you work with us. We needed to keep you safe." Oliver told her calmly, but seriously.
Felicity rolled her eyes and smiled a little at how much her boys cared for her. "I decide when I need protection, remember you aren't the boss of me...."
"About that...." Oliver started and Felicity raised her eyebrows. "I am always going to do my best to protect you even if you don't want me to...and that's what Diggle did. He is a honorable man and would do anything for you."
"I know, I just hate that he got hurt because of me." Felicity said softly.
"I know, but I don't think he would change what he did just to not get hurt." Oliver said softly as he wiped away one of her tears from her cheek.
"You're probably right." Felicity said as she relaxed a little. She was exhausted from her little trip.
"Now, lets get you back to bed, half the hospital is looking for you..."
"What?" Felicity said in a mortified look.
"When I found your bed empty, I asked the nurse and she started a search for you." Oliver told her.
"Oliver...." Felicity sighed.
"You shouldn't be out of bed, especially walking when you are on bedrest. How are you even walking on that?" Oliver asked, but before he even got an answer, he had Felicity in his arms, bridal style.
Felicity grimaced at the pain of the movement, but then relaxed when it left. It was getting to be a bit much standing upright so being off her feet helped.
"I'm fine." Felicity grumbled after a moment.
"Mm hm." Oliver hummed, not believing her for a second.
"I am, Oliver." She whined. "I shouldn't even have to be here anymore. John got to go home."
Oliver left Thea's hospital room with Felicity in his arms. "John was cleared to go home. You haven't been."
"Are you sure he was cleared? He might have just left without the doctor's consent. Maybe that's what I'll do."
"You will do nothing of the sort." Oliver said quickly. "And Diggle was cleared to go."
"Good, you found her." The nurse said as she lead the way back to Felicity's room.
Oliver set Felicity down on her bed and helped her lay back down. As he was pulling up her blanket, he saw her hand where there was dried blood. "You pulled your IV out?"
"Yeah, it was creeping me out....and I needed to find Thea and it was in my way." Felicity told him before the nurse put the oxygen tube on Felicity's face. "Is this really necessary?" Felicity asked in annoyance. She thought she was done with it.
"Your oxygen is low so it is necessary." The nurse said kindly, but firmly before looking at Oliver. "I need to go get another IV kit, I'll be right back. Don't let her get out of bed again."
"Don't worry, I won't."
Felicity glared up at Oliver until she realized what the nurse had said. "Wait...no, I don't need another one." She whined as she looked toward the door.
Oliver hid a smile at her whining. She had a strong aversion to needles. If she just had kept the IV in she wouldn't have to get a new one. "Yes you do." Oliver said slowly.
Felicity looked at him with a frown. "But I don't want it. You know I don't like pointy things. They are up there with kangaroos."
Oliver looked at her with an amused smile. "Kangaroos?"
"Yeah, they wig me out. They look evil. I never did go to Australia because of them. I just...uh...they just freak me out." Felicity said with a shake of her head.
Oliver let out a deep laugh as she ended her babble about kangaroos.
"It isn't funny! They are terrifying, Oliver. You would think so to if you ran across one. Not that that will happen anytime soon, but I'm sure you would see what I am talking about."
"Have you come across one before?" Oliver asked, teasing her.
"No and I don't plan to!" Felicity told him seriously.
Oliver chuckled again.
"Ready, Ms. Smoak?" The nurse asked.
"Can I refuse the IV?" Felicity asked instead of answering her.
"No." Oliver answered instead of the nurse.
Felicity looked at Oliver with an annoyed glare. "I wasn't asking you."
"Felicity. You need the IV, you can't refuse it." Oliver said in a softer voice.
"Fine, but I want to leave today."
"Are you trying to bargain with me?" Oliver asked with a little smile.
Felicity shrugged her shoulders with a nonchalant look.
"You aren't ready to leave yet, Ms. Smoak. And you do need this IV."
"But you took the chest tube out..." Felicity practically whined to the nurse.
"Just this morning, we haven't even got the chest x-rays back which is why you shouldn't have been out of bed on top of the rest of your injuries." The nurse scolded her.
"She got the chest tube out already?" Oliver said having not know about her having the procedure to remove it already.
"Yes, we did it at 10 and took the x-rays right after. We should be getting them soon."
"Is she in any danger from being up and around? Will it collapse again?" Oliver asked in worry.
"The only danger is if her stitches break or if the x-ray shows that her lung isn't back to normal. It shouldn't collapse again though. We do need to keep her in bed for now. And when it is necessary to get out of bed, she should be using her crutches.”
"Did you hear that? No more getting out of bed."
Felicity rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness.
"I'm serious, Felicity." Oliver said in a worried voice. "Promise me you won't get out of bed until they say you are ready."
"Alright."
"Promise me."
"Promise." Felicity said with a smirk.
"Now that that's settled, let's get this IV started." The nurse said as she prepped Felicity's other hand.
"About that...." Felicity started.
"Oh no you don't. We already went over this. You are getting the IV." Oliver interrupted her.
"Oliver..."
"Felicity..."
"Fine, but you owe me."
“Okay.” Oliver said, but then saw the crutches leaning against the wall. They must have brought those to her the day before when he was spending time with William. “Why didn’t you use your crutches?”
Felicity glared at the crutches. “I am not good at using those and I don’t need them.”
Oliver tried to keep in an amused smile at how she was glaring at her crutches He then leaned down to kiss her temple and then nodded to nurse to go ahead with the IV.
“How’s William doing?” Felicity asked as she tried to ignore what the nurse was doing to her.
Oliver frowned. “He isn’t talking to me. I think he blames me for his mom’s death.”
Felicity frowned as well, knowing that Oliver and William were going through a rough time. “You aren’t blaming yourself for her death....wait, who am I talking to...of course you are...Oww, I hate needles....” Felicity interrupted herself as she glared at the offending IV in her arm. OLiver chuckled and Felicity focused her attention back on him. “Just remember Chase did it. Not you. When is her funeral?”
“Wednesday at 3.” Oliver replied.
Felicity nodded, thinking she had to be out of the hospital by then so she could go to support Oliver and William.
“All done, Ms. Smoak. Please don’t pull out this one and remember you are on bedrest. You can only get up with assistance.”
“You know, I got out of bed without assistance and was just fine...” Felicity started to say, but the nurse just gave her look that said that she wasn’t fine, before leaving the room.
Felicity looked up at Oliver who had his eyebrows raised at her. “What? It’s true. I didn’t need assistance to get up.”
Oliver frowned at her in concern. “What is really bothering you?”
Felicity frowned grumpily. “I’m fine.”
Oliver narrowed his eyes at her.
“Fine, I’m just tired of being here with all the doctors and nurses and beeping and oxygen masks and needles and IV poles and chest tubes and x-rays and….”
“I get it. I get it.” Oliver said with a smile. “I would think that since you got your chest tube out that you would be getting out of here soon.”
“Yeah, but I am still here.” Felicity said with a frown.
“But you won’t be for long. You will be out sooner if you listen to the doctor’s orders and stay in bed.”
Felicity rolled her eyes. “I want to go home.”
“And you will. I promise.” Oliver reassured her. Oliver then looked around, “Wait, wasn’t Rene supposed to be here?”
Felicity avoided his eyes as she bit her lip to keep from smiling.
Oliver narrowed his eyes at her and waited for her to crack.
“That’s not going to work.” Felicity stated as he looked at her. “I am not going to say anything. It’s not my fault that Dinah, Curtis, and Rene got their signals crossed. I’m just the innocent victim in this all. I was left all alone…..”
Oliver just kept looking at her.
“Okay, fine. I might have text Rene to tell him that Curtis was going to stay a little longer and then Dinah was coming a littler earlier so he didn’t need to come. None of them were letting me go to Thea’s room and I knew you weren’t going to let me so I made it happen myself. By the way, you didn’t have to keep that she was in coma from me. I might be injured, but you don’t have to baby me. I can take it, you know.”
Oliver frowned slightly. “I know. I just didn’t want you to worry about anything else, but getting better. Plus I was hoping that she would wake up before I had to even tell you. Telling you made it feel permanent and I was hoping that it was only temporary.” Oliver said as he let his real emotions slip across his face. He hated that his sister was once again in a coma. This time it was because of him.
“Don’t you go blaming yourself. You told me it was Chase’s fault and you were right. Chase brought all of us to that island. You came to save us.”
“But I didn’t save all of you and none of you would have been there if it hadn’t been for your connection to me and what I did.” Oliver said as he looked down at his hands.
“Hey you did that best you could in an impossible situation. Chase was crazy. He wanted all of us to die and leave you alone. He did this to you and to us. You might have killed his father, but you didn’t chose for any of the rest to happen. Chase did. He made those decisions. You can’t blame yourself for everything he did. Thea wouldn’t blame you.”
“I know, but…” Oliver said, but then trailed off. “She’s my sister.”
“I know.” Felicity said as she squeezed his hands in comfort. He would do anything for his sister and she knew that seeing her back in a coma was probably killing him. She wished there was something she could do to help him, but there wasn’t. All she could do was be there for him.