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Valentine's Day had never been a big day for Barba as he'd spent most of his adult life single for the obnoxious holiday. This year was different. It'd be his first Valentine's Day with Olivia, and while neither of them wanted to make a big deal of the day, they had decided to go out to dinner with Noah who had insisted they get Chinese food.
They sat in a booth together in the restaurant, laughing over dinner, until their check was brought out along with three fortune cookies. Noah immediately reached for one of the cookies and opened it in a hurry. "What's your fortune say?" Rafael asked, also grabbing one of the cookies from the center of the table and handing the other to Olivia.
"What's that word?" Noah asked, showing Rafael the paper.
"Disbelief."
"Disbelief destroys the magic." Noah read, then threw it to the side, clearly more interested in the cookie, rather than the fortune. "Mama, what does yours say?" He asked, through a mouthful of cookie.
Olivia unwrapped her cookie and cracked it open. "If you look in the right places, you can find some good offerings." She read, smiling at Noah then eating her cookie. "Rafa's turn."
"Make three wishes by midnight and they will be granted." Rafael read, then chuckled lightly. Olivia laughed with him but Noah just looked stunned.
"Make a wish!" He exclaimed. Obviously, Rafael didn't believe that he'd actually be granted three wishes but he didn't want to kill Noah's excitement.
"How about you make the first wish?" Rafael offered, and Noah thought for a moment.
"I wish for a giant sundae!"
Olivia was about to tell her son to not be disappointed if his wish didn't come true when the doors to the kitchen opened and their waiter came over to their table carrying a rather large ice cream sundae. "We didn't order anything else." Rafael tried to argue, but the waiter shook his head.
"Tonight's Valentine's Day and your table won our Valentine's raffle. The sundae's on the house. Enjoy!" He said, setting the sundae in front of Noah and then returning to the kitchen. Rafael shared a look with Olivia, but then shrugged.
"Well isn't that a coincidence." He said, although the whole situation was kind of strange, but Noah was pleased with his sundae and that was all that mattered at the moment.
They left the restaurant together and decided to walk the short distance back to Olivia's apartment. Noah was holding one of each of the adult's hands as he rambled on about how his wish was granted and magic was real. Rafael smiled and ruffled the boy's hair as they continued their walk. "Best Valentine's Day ever!" Noah declared and Rafael and Olivia were both inclined to agree with him until Noah's rambling stopped and his both started to twitch before convulsing.
Olivia had never moved faster in her life than at that moment when she positioned herself behind her son and supported his shaking body and laid him on his side to keep his airway clear as the seizure continued. "Rafael, call 911 and start timing the seizure." She yelled to him, but he was already on it, dialing the paramedics and glancing at his watch to keep track of every second that past and the boy he'd come to consider as his own son seized on the sidewalk.
Rafael stayed on the phone with the paramedics until they arrived, trying to keep the area cleared from the nosy people who wanted to see what was going on. The paramedics arrived three minutes later and Noah had yet to stop seizing. Rafael told them how long he'd been seizing as Olivia reluctantly stepped back from her son, hands going to her hair as she tried not to panic. The paramedics worked quickly to get him on a board and hook him up to an IV and administering something that caused the seizure to stop. They quickly got Noah into the ambulance and Olivia and Rafael rode with him to the hospital.
Neither of them were sure what had happened, Noah had been fine all day and he didn't have a history of seizures, now they were sitting in his hospital room, his small body hooked up to all sorts of machines, still unconscious, as they waited for the doctor to come back with the test results. Rafael was gripping Olivia's hand, both of them gaining strength from the other. "I'm going to go get a coffee, do you want something?" He asked, needing to leave the room and take a breath, he was beginning to feel overwhelmed.
"Coffee's fine. Thank you, Rafa." Olivia responded, the fact that she had been crying very evident in her voice.
"My mom should be here soon." He told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead, then walking over to press a kiss to Noah's forehead. Olivia just nodded and watched him leave the room. Rafael walked down the hall to the cafeteria, trying to even out his breathing. He was terrified. He didn't know what was wrong with Noah but he was worried - and desperate. He didn't believe that dumb fortune he'd gotten earlier, so he didn't know what compelled him to do it, but he found himself wishing that Noah would be ok.
He got two coffee's from the cafeteria and then made his way back to Noah's hospital room. When he entered, Olivia and Lucia were standing on opposite sides of Noah's bed, the doctor was standing by Lucia, and Noah was awake. There was a smile on his face as he told a tearful Lucia about the giant sundae he'd had. "Rafa!" Noah exclaimed, and Rafael set the coffee's down and moved over to hug Noah.
"Hey, Noah. You ok, mijo?" He asked, stroking his curls. Noah nodded, taking a sip of the juice box that a nurse had given him.
"He's all good." The doctor answered too, and all of the adults turned toward him. "Nothing showed up in the tests which is a good thing. Seizures can be caused for a number of reasons, but Noah's doing very well right now. We'd like to keep him overnight since he seized for over two minutes, but he should be good to go tomorrow." Rafael, Olivia, and Lucia all sighed with relief, and the doctor shook their hands before leaving the room.
Later that night, Noah was sleeping, and Olivia and Rafael sat on the two chairs by his bed watching him. Olivia was sleeping, but Rafael couldn't seem to fall asleep. He watched the steady rise and fall of her chest and how peaceful she looked in her sleep and he made his last wish. A few minutes passed and Olivia stirred in the chair. "I wished for him to be ok. And now he's ok." Rafael said, breaking the silence.
"You don't actually think you were given three wishes, do you?" Olivia asked, and Rafael just shrugged. Earlier he had been certain the sundae had been a coincidence, but now, technically both of his wishes had come true.
"I don't know, either way it's weird." Olivia glanced at the clock on the wall and then back at Rafael.
"It's almost midnight. Have you made your last wish?" She asked, and he nodded. "Well?" She prompted, waiting for him to tell her what she wished for.
"If I tell you, it won't come true." Olivia rolled her eyes at him and he grabbed her hands, looking into her eyes. "I wished for happiness for you. Forever." He said and her lips turned into a small smile, before leaning forward to press her lips to his for a short kiss. Neither of them were sure that his wish would come true, but Olivia's heart warmed at the fact that he had used his last wish to wish for her happiness. And when she thought of all of his wishes, none of them had been for himself. He'd given his first wish to Noah, the second wish had been for Noah to be ok, and the third had been for her.
"I love you, Rafa."
"I love you, too."