**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE:

For the 2 (so far) that have pointed out that I "stole" this story: I did no such thing. I don't sit here and read every story that has ever been published on fanfiction to make sure that I don't have the same idea. Because God forbid 2 people have the same idea, right? Because that NEVER happens. However, I do apologize for offending anyone that has been offended.

Everybody gets their writing inspiration from different places. *MY* inspiration for this story came from 2 places. Four years ago, I watched my grandma die from cancer. Literally watched. I've recently had some family stuff going on that has brought all of that back up. Also, I work with 30 different kids every day, all day long. And these are the kids that have been taken away from their parents, go to school in dirty clothes, and would rather beat your ass than let you help them. And yesterday, two of my kids (2 brothers, one is in kindergarten and the other is in 3rd grade) both informed me that their mom had cancer. Of course they don't know what it means, but it, too, brought back a lot of strong memories.

So, before you go accusing me of "stealing" this story and threatening to report me, you need to realize that people have the same thoughts all the time. I have no knowledge of any other story out there like this. I am going to continue this story because for all I know, the first chapter is all that I have in common with the other story. And despite the 2 comments that I have received so far, there are 4 that seem to be enjoying it.

Oh…and a tip for complainers…yes, thank you for pointing this out to me. However, when you did so, you did not make it to where I can contact you directly in order to apologize and explain myself. Next time, don't be anonymous or have it to where you can't receive messages. I'd much rather handle things on a personal level than deal with this crap on a public level.

But, again…I apologize. But I'm not ending this story.

Thanks, yall! :) Keep reading and enjoy :)


** I hope yall enjoy :)

I don't own them.**


She stared at the white walls. A couple of pictures of pretty lakes hung delicately in a poor attempt to "liven the room up." She rolled her eyes at their failure to accomplish their little goal. A doctor's office is one of the most depressing places that a human can be trapped in while waiting on an over-paid, arrogant doctor that spent seventeen years in school just to tell you that you have a cold.

"This is a waste of my time," Olivia thought. She looked down at her bare toes, noticing the polish cracking. "I deserve a pedicure. All the long damn hours that I…"

About that time, a light knock at the door echoed in the small room. Olivia just sat there. The doctor entered, a giant fake smile plastered on her face. "Miss Benson? I'm Dr. Callahan," her voice irked Olivia. So sweet and, oh…what do they call it…genuine.

"Hi," Olivia forced herself to speak. She had been waiting in the little exam room nearly naked, only covered by the piece of crap gown that the nurse tossed at her, for nearly 45 minutes.

"Let's see…the nurse drew blood, didn't she?" the doctor asked.

Looking down at her arm, Olivia smirked as she saw the bruise that had already formed. "Yeah, and I suggest a little more training for your nurses," she commented, rolling her arm to where the doctor could see the blackish-blue mark.

With a fake chuckle, the doctor grimaced. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about that. It's Leanne's first week here."

"Well, she's lucky I don't mind needles. Her next patient may not be as understanding." Olivia's tone was a bit sharp with the doctor. She knew she should probably be nice, but at that point in time, she just couldn't make herself.

The doctor sat on the small stool and wheeled herself over to Olivia. She pressed the cold stethoscope to Olivia's skin, giving the instructions to "Breath in and out for me." After a couple more simple procedures, the doctor pulled off her gloves with a smile. "Well, Miss Benson, you go ahead and get changed and I'll be back in here in a few minutes after the blood results are back, okay?"

Carefully sliding herself off the exam table, Olivia chimed in, "It better not take 45 more minutes or I'm leaving." The doctor's eyes got wide as she took a step out of the door.

"Uh, yes mam…" she replied with another fake smile.

Olivia stepped into the little bathroom that was directly attached to the exam room and let the skimpy gown slide down to the floor. "I'm going to kill Elliot if he made me come here for no reason," she mumbled, sliding her pants back on.

He had claimed that over the past few weeks, Olivia had been losing weight like crazy. He had also made it known that she "was never rested" like she should be. Never mind that they're both cops and they're never rested. But alas, he had begged her for two weeks and finally she caved. She decided that taking an hour off work to make him shut the hell up would probably be worth it.

Exiting the mini bathroom, Olivia sat down in the "comfy chair," which was made of hard plastic, to slip her shoes back on. Another knock on the door echoed through the room as the same doctor slowly cracked the door open. "Miss Benson?" she asked, not seeing Olivia as she was ducked down fixing her shoe laces.

"Yep…" Olivia replied, sitting up. She clipped her badge back onto her belt and stood up. "So, what's the news, doc? I got a cold? Great. Thanks for your time," Olivia smarted off, picking her coat up off of the chair.

"Detective Benson, you may want to sit down for a minute." The blonde lady's tone had changed to a more serious pitch instead of the perky, bubbly tone that she had before.

With a raised eyebrow, Olivia sat back down, putting her hands on her knees, still ready to get the hell out of there. "What is it?" she asked.

"Detective Benson…I…um…" the doctor stuttered as she clung to Olivia's medical file. Olivia began to pick up on the seriousness of her facial expression. "Although more tests need to be run to be 100 percent positive," the doctor took a breath, "Your blood work today showed that you have a type of cancer."

Olivia chuckled. "Did Stabler put you up to this?" she asked, standing up, grabbing her coat again.

"I don't know who that is, Detective Benson, but this is very serious."

Narrowing her eyes, Olivia's heart stopped for a moment as she read the doctor's face. "You're being serious…" her brown eyes traced the doctor's facial expression.

Nodding, the doctor opened Olivia's file and turned it towards her. "These are the results to your blood test. These levels here," the doctor pointed at a black and white graph, "Those aren't normal."

Olivia took a step back, her eyes still narrowed. "This can't be right…" she shook her head. "What kind of cancer is it?"

"It's in your lymph nodes," the doctor told her, pulling out a business card from her lab coat pocket. "Call this doctor, set up an appointment. Tell the secretary that you're from Dr. Callahan's office and that if she has any questions to call me. They will be able to further test you and get you started on your treatment."

Still not fully comprehending everything, Olivia took the business card and looked at it. She looked back up at the doctor as she was opening the door for Olivia. She followed the doctor into the hallway and went through the door back through the lobby. "And Detective Benson," the doctor called out, making Olivia turn around. "I hope everything works out for you."

Nodding, Olivia looked back down at the card and began walking again. Once outside the door, she didn't hear or see anything. Just the card in her hand.

Somehow, Olivia made it back to her apartment in one piece. And somehow along the way, she had apparently sent Cragen a text message letting him know she'd be taking the rest of the day off. Of course, he didn't have a problem with that.


Elliot sat at the station, leaned back in his chair. He was checking his watch every two minutes. And the minutes in between those two minutes, he was staring at the clock on the wall and the one on his computer screen. "Why hasn't she called?" he asked himself, getting up and walking to the coffee pot.

By the time he got there, his phone was ringing on his desk. Munch and Fin looked in shock as he nearly flew back and grabbed the phone. "Liv?" he answered, quickly taking a few steps into the empty hallway.

"Ha, no," Kathy chuckled. "Sorry, not your precious Liv."

"Sorry, Kath," he apologized. "She went to the doctor and was supposed to be back a few hours ago.

"Well, that's sweet and all, but your children need to you to stop and pick up some poster boards. Lizzie and Dickie have projects due." He rolled his eyes. He knew all she was doing was sitting on her ass watching tv.

"Yeah, okay. I'll grab them on the way home."

After getting off the phone, he went back to his desk. "Was that Liv?" Fin asked, looking up from a stack of paperwork.

Elliot shook his head. "Just the Ice Princess," he grumbled.

It was only one o'clock. There was no way in hell Cragen was going to let him take off four hours early when Olivia was already out. He tried calling her phone yet again. And yet again, no answer. "It's me, Liv. Answer your damn phone." He was aggravated.

He had been the one to push her to going to the doctor. And if something was wrong, he knew there was a chance that she would blame him. He would just have to wait until his shift was over to go check on her.


Elliot peeled out of the parking lot at five o'clock on the dot. Speeding all the way to Olivia's apartment, he jerked his SUV into a parking spot and jumped out. He climbed two stairs at a time and was at the seventh floor in about 30 seconds.

Reaching to knock on the door, his heart sunk. He had been trying to convince himself all day that nothing was wrong, and that she had just taken the rest of the day off work. But he knew deep down that he wasn't going to be that lucky.

Knocking 3 times, Elliot waited for a response. No answer. He knocked again.

"Go away," he heard coming from inside.

"Come on, Liv, open the door…" he begged. He wanted to give her plenty of time to open the door voluntarily before he used his key.

"Elliot, just go away. I'm not in the mood for company."

"I'm not company! It's just me!" he argued. He turned his head just in time to see one of her nosy neighbors peak her head out. He reached in his pocket, pulling out his badge. After flashing it, the blue-haired lady disappeared. "Liv, either open the door or I'm coming in on my own," he warned.

She didn't reply. Rolling his eyes at her stubbornness, Elliot pulled his ring of keys out of his pocket and found the key for her door. Once inside the apartment, he looked around. "Liv?" he asked. No reply.

He looked in the kitchen…nope, not in there. Not in the living room either. Rounding the corner, he saw a lump on her bed. "Liv?" he asked again, slowly taking a step towards the bedroom.

"What?" she groaned, not moving. His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to the bed. She was laying sideways on the bed, curled up with a massive amount of pillows and a giant blanket. "Do you have something to say or are you just going to stare at me?" she snapped.

"I want to know why you didn't come back to work today." His fingers fidgeted with the keys in his pocket.

"I didn't feel like it." Her answer was short and very Olivia-ish.

"Come on, Liv…" he coaxed, sitting on the edge of her bed. He reached over and put a hand on her knee, causing her to turn her head to look at him. "What'd the doctor say?"

"Nothing, Elliot," she lied, her eyes darting back at the tv. She bit the inside of her lip, curling her legs closer to her body.

"Liar," his blue eyes traced her body and locked on her brown ones as they began to fill with tears.

"Can you just leave?" she asked, taking a deep breath in an attempt to hold the tears back. She hadn't cried yet and she sure as hell didn't want to start in front of Elliot.

"Liv, what's going on?" he asked, gently rubbing her leg from her ankle to her knee.

Without any more prompting, Olivia's eyes squeezed shut and the tears began to run down her cheeks.

Elliot got up from the foot of the bed and moved to where he would be leaning against the headboard. He leaned over and pulled her up and against him. She was limp in his arms as he hushed her, rubbing a hand across her back. He wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he knew it couldn't be good.

After hitting the mute button on the remote control, the room was filled with her sobs against his chest. He ran a hand through her wavy auburn hair and kissed the top of her head.

Once she had calmed down a little bit, he brushed her hair out of her face. "Can you tell me what's wrong?" he asked.

Her tearstained eyes looked up at him as she swallowed hard. "Elliot…" she bit her lip again. "I have cancer."