Wax Figurine | T. Drake ✔

[48]

The surgery hadn't taken long and the chips were successfully removed from Olivia's brain but she had to be kept in the recovery room until she gained consciousness and the effects of the anesthesia faded. So Bruce and Tim were still there even though around nine hours had lapsed since she had been taken to the operation theater but they had convinced Steph to go home.

Steph had made them promise to let her know soon as they were permitted to meet Olivia so that she would come right back. Eventually Bruce also had to leave for patrol and Tim was alone, waiting in the corridor for the doctors to tell him when he would be allowed to see her.

He hadn't kept an exact track of the time but after what seemed quite long, a nurse stepped out and told him that he could go and see Olivia.

She was still in the recovery room and he would have to only see her from a distance, a glass pane separating the two. But at least nothing had gone wrong and she was alive and well.

That was all that mattered.

Finally as her condition got stabilized, she had to be shifted to a private suite so Tim went to the main reception to make the required arrangements and pay for the accommodation.

When she was shifted to the suite, she seemed in a half conscious state and was silent, her head wrapped up in bandages. He was allowed to stay with her and instructed to call the doctor on duty if there was an disturbance in her condition.

But at last after almost twelve hours, he was there beside her, sitting on a chair closer to her bed and accepting it that she had survived and there was nothing to worry about.

Her eyes were open but not looking at anything in particular and it seemed as if she was still half asleep. So he didn't disturb her, knowing she would recover on her own time and that he should wait for her to be fully conscious.

Gradually, her senses started to awaken and she blinked, trying to adjust her vision to the blank white light around her.

She had an understanding that she had made it out of surgery but right then she seemed too numbed to speak up. Besides, an oxygen mask was fitted over her face so even if she spoke, her voice would not be heard.

Her hand twitched and Tim got alert, edging closer to her to see if she wanted him to do something. Her vitals were normal and the line on the heart rate monitor too showed a slowly stabilizing heartbeat.

She was supposed to be fine after she fully woke up.

But she lifted her hand and tried to get the mask off her face so Tim quickly came to her aid, loosening the oxygen mask. Her oxygen saturation didn't suffer as a result, showing that she was able to breath on her own and even if the mask was removed, it wouldn't be an issue.

"I... Hate... Hospitals," she breathed out and it inevitably made a relieved smile grace Tim's lips.

She was there, she was okay.

True, it would take her time to adjust to functioning without her memory chips but the worst part was over.

"You just have to get better soon, Liv, then we'll take you away from this hospital, promise," he remarked softly and hearing his voice, she cautiously tilted her head to look at him.

Black eyes locked with blue and he expected her to say something or give him a sign that she knew he was there.

But her silence and her eyes just staring at him blankly unnerved him.

"Olivia?" He grew worried, his hand reaching out to grip hers but she slowly pulled it out of his grasp. "Hey... Are you feeling okay? Should I call the doctor?"