Chlollie Fanfic: Beauty in the Breakdown X - Snow Angel
Hola, peeps,
It’s time for a Chlollie continuation! Who’s with me? :-) And has it really been over a year since I last visited this series?!? :-O In my defence, I did catch up with my other two Chlollie series, and Disintegration was really, really long) ;-)
Before I begin, I’d like to shed a bit of light on the considerable ‘soberness’ of this installment of the story. See, someone commented on 'Fessing Up that I’ve explored a lot of Chloe’s insecurities, but not too many of Oliver’s, so that got me thinking that perhaps I ought to correct the balance. Up until now, Oliver’s been Chloe’s White Knight, and he hasn’t put a foot wrong (nor is he going to). But in order to delve into his psyche in more detail, I need to throw a curveball his way, something that shakes his belief system and revives his worst fears…and that’s where Snow Angel kicks off.
Now, I will mention up-front that there’s a lot of angst in this story, but the plan has always been - and still is - for a happy ending at the end of the day. That said, please heed the warnings in the Author’s Note below, so that you don’t get unexpectedly ambushed by the subject matter.
Ladies & Gents, I give you Beauty in the Breakdown: Snow Angel. It’s a bit of a tough read, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.
PS: A cookie to the first person who recognises the quote at the beginning of the story, and can tell me where it came from! :-P
Brilliant banner by ellashy. Thanks for letting me use your wonderful work!
Title: Beauty in the Breakdown X: Snow Angel
Author: BabyDee1
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: ***Angst*** A re-telling of Chlollie post-Warrior
Timeline: Season 9
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Series Summary: With Oliver by her side, Chloe learns to let go, find peace, and fall in love.
Story Summary: Very early into their marriage, Chloe and Oliver suffer a crippling loss. Very angsty.
Feedback: …Always. :)
A/N: This story deals heavily with miscarriage. Please do not read it if the subject matter is likely to be triggering. Thank you.
Previous works in the Beauty in the Breakdown series:
“I will love you in times of sorrow and in times of joy; in times of pleasure and in times of pain… every storm that life puts us through, we will weather together, as One.”
Chapter 1
She was probably worrying over nothing.
“You can do this, Chloe,” she whispered to herself. “Deep breaths, stay calm…it’s just a consultation.”
Encouraging words, to be sure. But try though she did, recent events had shaken her positivity, and she couldn’t stop herself from imagining the worst.
Life had been so beautiful. She and Oliver Queen had fallen in love and gotten married in an idyllic ceremony by the sea; she and Clark had settled their differences, and she and Lois had finally had a long overdue talk about their significant others and knew where they stood. She’d even gotten her beloved job back at the Daily Planet. Life couldn’t have been any sweeter.
But about a month after her return to work, it had all come crashing down when her mother had suddenly passed away.
According to the doctors, she went peacefully in her sleep and there had been no pain. It was of some comfort to know that she hadn’t suffered; but losing her mother with no warning had shaken Chloe to her very core. Her health had steadily declined in the weeks that had followed, and the lack of improvement was giving her cause for concern.
Oliver’s love and support through the funeral and after had been a great source of strength, but ever since her mother’s death she hadn’t been the same, physically and emotionally. Her husband was convinced it was stress-related, brought on by the suddenness of her mother’s passing. But she knew, deep down, that there was more to her general malaise than just grief and stress.
So she’d taken a day off work and booked an appointment with her doctor for a check-up, determined to get to the bottom of her problems; only the waiting seemed to take forever.
Chloe let out a loud sigh and tapped her feet nervously on the floor of the waiting room outside the doctor’s office, waiting impatiently for the door to open. She needed to know what was wrong with her, before she got any worse.
Just then, the door opened and a tall, African-American woman peered out and smiled. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Chloe. Please come in.”
Chloe got to her feet and followed her into the office, curiously studying the willowy frame of her gynaecologist as she walked over to her padded chair. Like all of Oliver’s ex-girlfriends, Dr Lola Johnson was tall, leggy and modelesque. But unlike the awful Elise, this one wasn’t an airhead, and she was genuinely warm and friendly.
“So, how is my old college drinking buddy doing these days?” Lola asked, and Chloe smiled.
“Not so much into the drinking thing anymore, and in excellent health, thanks,” she replied. “He sends his best regards.”
“Good to know,” she said. “So what brings you here today, Chloe; all okay?”
She took a deep breath. “My mother recently passed away. She’d been ill for a while, but it was still rather unexpected.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” the doctor replied, her brown eyes full of empathy.
“Thank you.” She swallowed again. “After she died, I found out that, among other things, she’d suffered from endometriosis, and was prone to fibroids and irregular bleeding. I - I understand it might be hereditary.”
“Do you have an irregular cycle?” Lola asked, writing notes.
“No, I’ve always been regular as clockwork; but the last period I had was unusually light, and after Mom died, it just…disappeared.”
“I see.” More scribbling. “When was the date of your last period?”
Chloe gave her the date, waiting anxiously as the doctor wrote more notes. After a while, Lola pulled on a pair of gloves and instructed her to unbutton the top of her skirt and lie back on the couch, which she did.
“I mean, it’s probably nothing, but given my mother’s history, I’d be silly to ignore any possible warning signs, right?” she babbled as the doctor gently palpated her abdomen. “If there’s anything going on inside my body that I’m unaware of, the sooner we know what it is, the sooner we can take steps to correct it…wouldn’t you agree?”
“Wholeheartedly,” Lola replied, and stepped back. “Okay, you can step back down now, Chloe.”
“Thank you.” She tucked her shirt back into her skirt with nervous hands and climbed down off the couch. “So what are your initial findings?”
“I have a few more routine questions for you, and then I’ll run some quick tests which will give us a clearer picture,” Lola replied. She pulled off her gloves and reached for her notepad again. “Have you noticed any recent changes in your body; weight gain or loss, hyper-sensitive skin, enhanced sense of smell…?”
Chloe nodded. “Yes, I have been bloated for a couple of weeks,” she replied, her worry increasing. “And now that you mention it my nipples have been somewhat tingly; but we recently changed our fabric softener, so I figured it was down to that.”
Lola nodded. “Any nausea, dizziness, lethargy…?”
“No to the first one, yes to the other two,” she replied. “Ever since the funeral, I’ve been constantly tired and woozy. It’s almost impossible to wake up. Oh - and my mouth has a funny taste.”
A knowing look crossed the doctor’s face. “Let me guess; metallic?”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “Yes! How did you know?”
The other woman smiled. “Well, I am a doctor.”
Chloe gulped. “Lola, what does this all mean? What’s wrong with me?”
“Hopefully, nothing too serious.” Lola walked over to a cabinet and took out a small specimen bottle, which she handed to her. “There’s a bathroom down the hall,” she said. “Could you fill that up and bring it straight back here?”
“Uh…yeah, sure. But what do you think it is?”
“The results of the urine test should give us clearer information,” she replied stoically.
Chloe nodded. “Right.”
“Try not to worry,” Lola said reassuringly. “I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
***
Easy for her to say. Chloe thought dully as she entered the bathroom. Why were doctors always so deliberately vague?
Her mind raced through all the possibilities. Lola clearly suspected it was something specific…but what? She’d felt her stomach, so maybe she’d found something…a fibroid, or - heaven forbid - a tumour of some sort.
Her hand shook as she tried to fill the vial, resulting in only a small amount of liquid being collected. She screwed the top shut and rinsed both her hands and the vial, then dried it off with a paper towel and headed back to the doctor’s office.
“Here,” she said, handing Lola the vial. “I hope that’s enough...”
“It’s fine.”
Chloe watched with growing concern as the doctor unscrewed a plastic jar and pulled out a thin paper dipstick with coloured lines on it. She inserted it into the specimen and lifted it out, then narrowed her eyes and nodded.
“Just as I thought.”
“Oh God,” Chloe moaned, her heart sinking in despair. “I knew it. I knew it, there’s something horribly wrong with me, isn’t there?”
She shook her head. “There’s no need to be alarmed, trust me.”
“Just give it to me straight, Lola. You took a test, and you’ve got the results you expected,” Chloe babbled in dismay. “I’m trying to be strong here, but…oh, my God.” It was a tumour, a horrible malignant tumour. “I have something growing in me, don’t I?”
“Damn right you do,” the doctor said with a smile. “Congratulations, Chloe. You’re pregnant.”
***
Chapter 2…
It’s time for a Chlollie continuation! Who’s with me? :-) And has it really been over a year since I last visited this series?!? :-O In my defence, I did catch up with my other two Chlollie series, and Disintegration was really, really long) ;-)
Before I begin, I’d like to shed a bit of light on the considerable ‘soberness’ of this installment of the story. See, someone commented on 'Fessing Up that I’ve explored a lot of Chloe’s insecurities, but not too many of Oliver’s, so that got me thinking that perhaps I ought to correct the balance. Up until now, Oliver’s been Chloe’s White Knight, and he hasn’t put a foot wrong (nor is he going to). But in order to delve into his psyche in more detail, I need to throw a curveball his way, something that shakes his belief system and revives his worst fears…and that’s where Snow Angel kicks off.
Now, I will mention up-front that there’s a lot of angst in this story, but the plan has always been - and still is - for a happy ending at the end of the day. That said, please heed the warnings in the Author’s Note below, so that you don’t get unexpectedly ambushed by the subject matter.
Ladies & Gents, I give you Beauty in the Breakdown: Snow Angel. It’s a bit of a tough read, but I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.
PS: A cookie to the first person who recognises the quote at the beginning of the story, and can tell me where it came from! :-P
Brilliant banner by ellashy. Thanks for letting me use your wonderful work!
Title: Beauty in the Breakdown X: Snow Angel
Author: BabyDee1
Pairing: Chlollie
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: ***Angst*** A re-telling of Chlollie post-Warrior
Timeline: Season 9
Disclaimer: All characters belong to the CW & DC comics.
Series Summary: With Oliver by her side, Chloe learns to let go, find peace, and fall in love.
Story Summary: Very early into their marriage, Chloe and Oliver suffer a crippling loss. Very angsty.
Feedback: …Always. :)
A/N: This story deals heavily with miscarriage. Please do not read it if the subject matter is likely to be triggering. Thank you.
Previous works in the Beauty in the Breakdown series:
- Letting Go
- Taking Hold
- Reaching Out
- Falling In
- Feeling Good
- Private Chats
- Sacred Words
- Living Life
- ‘Fessing Up
“I will love you in times of sorrow and in times of joy; in times of pleasure and in times of pain… every storm that life puts us through, we will weather together, as One.”
Chapter 1
She was probably worrying over nothing.
“You can do this, Chloe,” she whispered to herself. “Deep breaths, stay calm…it’s just a consultation.”
Encouraging words, to be sure. But try though she did, recent events had shaken her positivity, and she couldn’t stop herself from imagining the worst.
Life had been so beautiful. She and Oliver Queen had fallen in love and gotten married in an idyllic ceremony by the sea; she and Clark had settled their differences, and she and Lois had finally had a long overdue talk about their significant others and knew where they stood. She’d even gotten her beloved job back at the Daily Planet. Life couldn’t have been any sweeter.
But about a month after her return to work, it had all come crashing down when her mother had suddenly passed away.
According to the doctors, she went peacefully in her sleep and there had been no pain. It was of some comfort to know that she hadn’t suffered; but losing her mother with no warning had shaken Chloe to her very core. Her health had steadily declined in the weeks that had followed, and the lack of improvement was giving her cause for concern.
Oliver’s love and support through the funeral and after had been a great source of strength, but ever since her mother’s death she hadn’t been the same, physically and emotionally. Her husband was convinced it was stress-related, brought on by the suddenness of her mother’s passing. But she knew, deep down, that there was more to her general malaise than just grief and stress.
So she’d taken a day off work and booked an appointment with her doctor for a check-up, determined to get to the bottom of her problems; only the waiting seemed to take forever.
Chloe let out a loud sigh and tapped her feet nervously on the floor of the waiting room outside the doctor’s office, waiting impatiently for the door to open. She needed to know what was wrong with her, before she got any worse.
Just then, the door opened and a tall, African-American woman peered out and smiled. “Sorry to keep you waiting, Chloe. Please come in.”
Chloe got to her feet and followed her into the office, curiously studying the willowy frame of her gynaecologist as she walked over to her padded chair. Like all of Oliver’s ex-girlfriends, Dr Lola Johnson was tall, leggy and modelesque. But unlike the awful Elise, this one wasn’t an airhead, and she was genuinely warm and friendly.
“So, how is my old college drinking buddy doing these days?” Lola asked, and Chloe smiled.
“Not so much into the drinking thing anymore, and in excellent health, thanks,” she replied. “He sends his best regards.”
“Good to know,” she said. “So what brings you here today, Chloe; all okay?”
She took a deep breath. “My mother recently passed away. She’d been ill for a while, but it was still rather unexpected.”
“I’m very sorry for your loss,” the doctor replied, her brown eyes full of empathy.
“Thank you.” She swallowed again. “After she died, I found out that, among other things, she’d suffered from endometriosis, and was prone to fibroids and irregular bleeding. I - I understand it might be hereditary.”
“Do you have an irregular cycle?” Lola asked, writing notes.
“No, I’ve always been regular as clockwork; but the last period I had was unusually light, and after Mom died, it just…disappeared.”
“I see.” More scribbling. “When was the date of your last period?”
Chloe gave her the date, waiting anxiously as the doctor wrote more notes. After a while, Lola pulled on a pair of gloves and instructed her to unbutton the top of her skirt and lie back on the couch, which she did.
“I mean, it’s probably nothing, but given my mother’s history, I’d be silly to ignore any possible warning signs, right?” she babbled as the doctor gently palpated her abdomen. “If there’s anything going on inside my body that I’m unaware of, the sooner we know what it is, the sooner we can take steps to correct it…wouldn’t you agree?”
“Wholeheartedly,” Lola replied, and stepped back. “Okay, you can step back down now, Chloe.”
“Thank you.” She tucked her shirt back into her skirt with nervous hands and climbed down off the couch. “So what are your initial findings?”
“I have a few more routine questions for you, and then I’ll run some quick tests which will give us a clearer picture,” Lola replied. She pulled off her gloves and reached for her notepad again. “Have you noticed any recent changes in your body; weight gain or loss, hyper-sensitive skin, enhanced sense of smell…?”
Chloe nodded. “Yes, I have been bloated for a couple of weeks,” she replied, her worry increasing. “And now that you mention it my nipples have been somewhat tingly; but we recently changed our fabric softener, so I figured it was down to that.”
Lola nodded. “Any nausea, dizziness, lethargy…?”
“No to the first one, yes to the other two,” she replied. “Ever since the funeral, I’ve been constantly tired and woozy. It’s almost impossible to wake up. Oh - and my mouth has a funny taste.”
A knowing look crossed the doctor’s face. “Let me guess; metallic?”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “Yes! How did you know?”
The other woman smiled. “Well, I am a doctor.”
Chloe gulped. “Lola, what does this all mean? What’s wrong with me?”
“Hopefully, nothing too serious.” Lola walked over to a cabinet and took out a small specimen bottle, which she handed to her. “There’s a bathroom down the hall,” she said. “Could you fill that up and bring it straight back here?”
“Uh…yeah, sure. But what do you think it is?”
“The results of the urine test should give us clearer information,” she replied stoically.
Chloe nodded. “Right.”
“Try not to worry,” Lola said reassuringly. “I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
***
Easy for her to say. Chloe thought dully as she entered the bathroom. Why were doctors always so deliberately vague?
Her mind raced through all the possibilities. Lola clearly suspected it was something specific…but what? She’d felt her stomach, so maybe she’d found something…a fibroid, or - heaven forbid - a tumour of some sort.
Her hand shook as she tried to fill the vial, resulting in only a small amount of liquid being collected. She screwed the top shut and rinsed both her hands and the vial, then dried it off with a paper towel and headed back to the doctor’s office.
“Here,” she said, handing Lola the vial. “I hope that’s enough...”
“It’s fine.”
Chloe watched with growing concern as the doctor unscrewed a plastic jar and pulled out a thin paper dipstick with coloured lines on it. She inserted it into the specimen and lifted it out, then narrowed her eyes and nodded.
“Just as I thought.”
“Oh God,” Chloe moaned, her heart sinking in despair. “I knew it. I knew it, there’s something horribly wrong with me, isn’t there?”
She shook her head. “There’s no need to be alarmed, trust me.”
“Just give it to me straight, Lola. You took a test, and you’ve got the results you expected,” Chloe babbled in dismay. “I’m trying to be strong here, but…oh, my God.” It was a tumour, a horrible malignant tumour. “I have something growing in me, don’t I?”
“Damn right you do,” the doctor said with a smile. “Congratulations, Chloe. You’re pregnant.”
***
Chapter 2…