Late night surprise with dl_greenarrow.

[chloesullivan]

It was around four in the morning when she finally managed to stumble into her apartment. Her vision was blurry, her breathing shallow and pained and the front of her shirt was soaked in her own blood. She hoped it was only the front.

She felt weak, but forced herself to remain as quiet as possible. Just a few more steps.

That was what she kept telling herself over and over all the way from the facility where it had happened. The place she'd been looking into when her attacker came out of nowhere. There was struggle but the other woman was faster and she knew exactly what she was going for.

Chloe fought her back as well as she could, but she hadn't been expecting a visitor in a location that had been abandoned supposedly for nearly a decade. She should have known better, especially while dealing with Lex Luthor, but she wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

A struggled noise escaped her but she forced herself to stay quiet. She didn't want to wake up Oliver and especially Maddie. She just needed to make it to the bathroom and stitch herself up, she had done it before.

But her knees kept wanting to give on her so as she started down the hallway toward the bedrooms, she had to stop, leaning her side heavily against the wall, a hand covering her wound and adding pressure to it as she tried to catch her breath.

It should have stopped bleeding by now.

Comments

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver hadn't been asleep.

She'd been gone for a long time, and despite the fact she had assured him that she had picked up training over the last several years, he couldn't help but feel worried. Something just didn't feel right.

And when he heard the soft gasp from the hallway, he sat up on the bed, dread pooling in his stomach. He quickly rose to his feet, moving silently across the floor and opening the door, startled when she nearly fell into him.

He flipped on the hall light, his eyes widening with horror as soon as he spotted the blood. "Oh God," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

If she had more energy in her, she would have told him to be quiet or cursed herself for waking him up. But as it was, her knees were giving under her and even as she tried to stand up straight again, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to.

"My bathroom," she groaned in a whisper, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a second as she gritted her teeth. She wasn't exactly in pain anymore, her body was too numb for that, but she was pushing herself to take these last few steps and that would require every ounce of energy she had left.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He hesitated a moment, then carefully scooped her up into his arms, carrying her silently through her bedroom and into the bathroom. He deposited her on the closed toilet seat before moving to shut the door.

"What happened?" he asked, opening the cabinet beneath the sink and grabbing out the First Aid kit.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She blew out a breath in relief, her body was shaking but now that she was at least sitting down, she could focus on what she had to do, "stabbed," she breathed, looking down at herself, reaching for the bottom of her shirt and pulling it up slowly.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

Oliver whirled at the admission, his eyes wide. "Christ, Chloe," he whispered. "You need a hospital."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe shook her head pulling her shirt up and off without a second thought, groaning quietly at the pain the movement caused, "can't be stuck there for days." She told him, taking another deep breath and leaning back against the cold surface, "I'll take care of it."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"What if it hit an organ?" he asked, giving her a look as he knelt down in front of her.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Blood isn't dark enough," she told him, looking down at the cut once more, gritting her teeth as she reached behind her back to make sure that was the only cut. She didn't think the knife was big enough to get through her but she could have been wrong, it was dark.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He forced himself to take a deep breath. "It's a deep cut. You need stitches." He looked up, meeting her eyes.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe inhaled, wincing as she did but shook her head, pushing herself up on her elbows, "she'll come in here when she wakes up, she can't see me like this."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"I'll bring you another shirt, Chloe. Lie down." His voice was gentle, but firm.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"I need a shower," she insisted, looking over at him, "I don't want her to know something is wrong."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He met her eyes. "You can barely stand up right now," he reminded her, raising his eyebrows.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe stared at him for a moment then sighed. She'd rest for a little bit and then shower, hopefully before Maddie woke up, "I need water." Her mouth was dry and she knew she had lost a lot of blood.

She also needed drugs, a lot of them, but she didn't want to risk passing out and not showering and changing before Maddie saw her.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"I'll get you a glass," he told her, watching her warily for a moment, then rising to his feet. He made his way down the hallway and toward the kitchen.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She watched him go and sighed, looking down at herself and picking up the wet towel Oliver had left. She wiped her hands clean then ran it over her face, sighing softly. She was still in pain but the burning was being replaced with the numb once more.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He returned a moment later with a glass of ice water, and a bottle of tylenol. "Here," he murmured, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Aspirin's a blood thinner, so I don't think that's a good idea. Tylenol, on the other hand..." He sighed softly, shaking a couple out and holding them out to her.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"Things change," he responded flatly. "Stop moving around so much before you pop stitches." He gave her a look.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

"Things changed for all of us," she pointed out, staring at him as she ignored his last statement completely.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

"You're right. They did." His voice dropped, and so did his gaze. "You should get some rest. I'll wake you in a couple hours, before Maddie wakes up."

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe stared at him for a moment then sighed softly and shaking her head, "I'll set my alarm, you should get some rest too."

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He was far too wired to fall asleep, but he didn't feel like arguing. "Yeah, all right." He headed for the door silently, then paused when he reached it, turning to look at her once more. "Are you sure you're all right?"

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

She watched him for a moment then nodded, "I'll be fine. Thank you." She said quietly, keeping her tired eyes on him.

[dl-greenarrow.livejournal.com]

He bit his lip, nodding. "Get some rest," he whispered, heading out of the room a second later.

[chloeas.livejournal.com]

Chloe sighed softly, turning slightly to set her alarm, wincing once again as she did before settling on the bed.

She sighed deeply and willed her body to relax, trying to think of ways to get Oliver to go back to being who he really was instead of just this shadow of himself. She paused and arched her eyebrows a little, smirking slightly as she got an idea, she'd start implementing it in the morning.