For several long hours, Rachel sat there outside of the operating room with Donovan in silence. There was only so much that could be said, and the waiting dragged on. Rachel napped for about twenty minutes of it, but only once. Images of her leaning over Tanner's still corpse and shaking it to try and wake him from death had jerked her from it so hard that it didn't happen again.

Then they got the answer from the doctor that Donovan had been waiting for.

Nathan was alive. Just that reality had her head spinning in happiness, but she was grounded when she remembered that it wasn't the only problem she had. That, and the doctor kept talking. Right now, Nathan was in a coma, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. They had to observe him and hope he woke up, but he had lost a lot of blood. It was a miracle he had survived long enough to make it to hospital, and they had given him several blood transfusions.

They didn't know if he'd wake up.

With that, Donovan and she headed to the lobby, and Rachel yawned, exhausted from everything and craving somewhere to curl up and drown in her sorrow. Rachel was yanked back, and she turned to Donovan who had her hand in his. Meeting his wary gaze, she followed it to the waiting room couches, and sitting on the seat furthest from them and nearest the door, was Oliver.

"What are you doing here?" Donovan snapped. "Come to prey upon a girl in her grief? Oliver Moceri."

"I'm not much for preying on women, as most people know."

Oliver closed a book he'd been reading and slid it under his arm. Halen, behind him, leaned off the wall and watched him attentively as he took a few steps out of the circle of couches and toward them. Stopping just in front of her, Oliver looked to her, but Donavan put himself in between them.

"Why are you here?" Donovan repeated protectively.

"Rachel called me. I've been waiting so patiently for her." Oliver cracked a smile that curdled Donovan's expression, and he backed up to her. When Oliver said that he'd been waiting patiently, he had not meant in the waiting room for a few hours.

"Rachel has called no one since we arrived."

Oliver chuckled. "There are more ways to call someone than with a phone. Are we going?" Oliver asked around Donovan to her, holding out his hand palm up. Once she took it, there would be no going back, but she needed him right now, even if she might regret it later.

"Rachel, you don't have to go with him. I will help you," Donovan begged her, grabbing both of her shoulders.

"Donovan..." Rachel frowned, not eager to upset him in this manner, especially considering she knew that he must be in more pain about Nathan than he was showing.

Donovan was a parent, so he was likely keeping himself together to be strong for her. Rachel didn't want that. Donovan deserved to grieve just as everyone else was. Forcing him to be her strength wasn't fair.

"I did call him, Donovan. It's all right. I have spent most of my time in one of his complexes or another for months now. I'll be okay," Rachel tried to reassure him, but Donovan's expression darkened on her words.

"I'll never forgive you." Donovan's words choked off her breath until she realized they were for Oliver. "Be careful, Rachel. Please..." The first tears slid down his face since everything had happened. "I can't lose you too."

It was then that it occurred to her that Donovan may not have been being strong for her, but had been using her to stay strong for himself. How could she have forgotten, with everything, that Donovan too had just barely climbed out of his own despair? It was only with her and Nathan that he had really opened up.

Why was she so cruel and selfish?

"Come with me," Rachel said, holding out her hand to Donovan.

Right now, Donovan needed her as much as she needed Oliver, and it wasn't fair of her to leave him alone. Oliver would understand.

"Rachel is right," Oliver said, and Donovan whipped a glare at him. "Why do you think the lobby is so empty?" Oliver emphasized, drawing their attention to it. It was devoid of everyone but him, Halen, and the staff.

"There were reporters," Halen said, joining Oliver at his side. "We shooed them off, but they will return as soon as we leave. They're nosey bastards and got wind that Nathan was here after the incident. The blundering idiots didn't even know that he lived at the pen. It's actually quite the shit storm."

"Yes." Oliver narrowed his eyes as he thought. "Maggie snuck him in as quietly as legally possible, and because he wasn't convicted of any heinous crimes, she didn't have to notify the residents. That's not quite what they are freaking about though."

"What is it then?" Rachel asked, leaning around Donovan.

"I have to give the woman credit. Maggie is a god damn genius when it comes to strategizing. As soon as all this went down, someone threw her and the penitentiary politically and publically under the bus. Someone released documents and videos of proof that your friend Nathan's trial was financially motivated, so to speak. Sure, he got a legal sentence, but it was the harshest one available. Looks like some judge's hand was a bit too far into the cookie jar on that one.

"That was just the tip of it too. The fact that an eighteen year old with no prior record was thrown into a house with rapists and murderers didn't fly so well with the public. With it ending him up in the hospital after being attacked by one of them, your friend Nathan has quite a large portion of people in this country–those who affect a large quantity of political figures–on his side. There will be more as people check the news tomorrow."

"If Nathan wakes up, he's never going back to jail," Halen said, and Rachel's eyebrows shot up.

"If Maggie knew all that, why didn't she do something and get him released sooner?" Donovan's brow furrowed.

"Because Maggie, or Emily Levitt as her real name is, is a psychotic assassin, not someone who should be allowed to take care of adults, let alone a child. The woman is warped and likely wanted to know what would happen if she released a baby chick into a den full of wolves. It certainly tamed a few of you as you pretended to care for it, but one of the wolves snapped its neck and now everyone is suffering the consequences."

Donovan was silent.

"You can't even deny it." Oliver smiled at Donovan, but the look was of disgust and not amusement. "Either way, the woman kept the failsafe so that if this all went under, at least the children wouldn't go down with the wolves. There were other things released about the younger one, Julian, as well. With all of that flying around, they'd give their left arm to get a hold of you, Donovan, the one tenant of the LC Project that escaped. The safest place for you is in my compound. No paparazzi will sneak in, and you can contact Maggie from there."

"Come with me, Donovan," Rachel said, grabbing his hand.

"Fine," Donovan growled. "Only so that it's better for Rachel and Nathan though. After this shit dies down, I'm not lingering." Donovan sounded more like he was confirming that he'd be able to leave than agreeing to come with her.

"You are free to leave as you choose, no strings attached, Donovan Saechao," Oliver agreed, and Donovan let out a heavy sigh. Oliver turned and beckoned for them to come.

As soon as they were outside, the limo pulled up and they all hopped in the back seat. It was quite spacious, even with her sitting next to Donovan on one side, and Halen and Oliver sliding in on the other. They brushed past some news vans on the way out, but the sun was down now and they drove around Oliver's car to go into the hospital. With Oliver's goons gone, they now had the freedom to go hassle the doctors.

The silence was crushing her and she sighed as they drove. From where they were it was going to be a good twenty minutes until they got to the compound. Donovan was staring out the window and she didn't know how to console him. Even Tanner was almost a decade younger than Donovan. Sinking in on the seat, she leaned against Donovan, the fatigue finally taking her over. If people caught wind of anything concerning her and Tanner, they would treat her like some girl who had been taken advantage of. If that happened, she didn't know what she would do.

Why couldn't people just mind their own god damn business?

Things were hard enough without them.

Word count: 1512 -- Edited July 15th, 2020