Disclaimer: I do not own Law and Order: SVU. It belongs to a genius named Dick Wolf. No profit is being made from this story.
The team came crashing down after finding Elliot. The adrenaline wore off with the lifting of the helicopter. Cragen had practically dropped the transmission in the Crown Victoria in his race toward the hospital.
Munch hadn't located his partner in the mob of officers clearing the scene, and had assumed that Fin had already left. He had opened the door to his car and found Fin bawling in the passenger seat. It was the first time Munch had ever seen him cry….and to say he was shocked was an understatement to describe his reaction.
Olivia was conked out for the entire trip to the hospital, which took 20 minutes. The sharp drop of the chopper landing startled her awake. She felt Elliot's dead weight against her, and looked down at him to see that he hadn't budged. He was burrowed into her side like a mole, fast asleep. She had become concerned when she wasn't able to wake him.
The paramedics had come in and attempted to wake him, and Elliot jolted awake. He freaked out and nearly broke Olivia's arm in his panic. She immediately sat up straight to keep him from rolling off of the bench seat, and held up her hand to stop the medics from restraining him. She bent down and whispered soothing words in his ear, keeping her arms to the side. He had calmed down enough for the medics to inject him with a sedative.
The four of them had met up inside the hospital and waited for word. Several groups of officers filtered in over the next two hours, offering support, and were just as anxious to find out about their colleague. Cragen kept an eye on his three. They hadn't spoken the entire time they had been there, simply sitting stiffly. He was surprised they were able to function; he himself was so tired he thought he might collapse.
Dr. Jacob Adams walked out into the room and scanned the area. Seeing the uniformed police officers, he headed for them. They saw him coming and all jumped up as one.
"I assume you are all here for Elliot Stabler?" he asked.
Cragen nodded. "Can we see him?" an officer asked.
The doctor bit his lip. "Are any of you relatives?" he asked.
Cragen didn't miss a beat. "Yes," he answered, deliberately avoiding the eyes of his detectives. "I'm his father." He pointed to Munch, Olivia, and Fin. "These are his brothers and sister."
The other officers kept silent, knowing that the words may as well have been true.
Dr. Adams nodded. "I'm afraid I can only speak with his family at the moment," he said apologetically. The officers backed off immediately, not wanting to cause trouble. They knew that they would be informed as soon as possible.
The doctor sat down with the four of them. They each wore the same desperate, anxious expression. "How is he?" Fin asked. Olivia felt her heart drop at the look on the doctor's face. He lowered his eyes to the clipboard in his hands, taking a breath before meeting their eyes.
"I don't want to upset you," he began. "Are you sure you can handle this right now? I can certainly come back."
"We rescued him ourselves, Doctor," Cragen cut in. "Nothing you say can upset us more than what we've already seen."
Adams nodded and launched in. "Elliot's condition is very serious," he said. "He has severe trauma to his immune system from a prolonged period of dehydration and starvation, as well as lack of sleep. We have him hooked up to IVs to try and replenish the fluids he has lost over the past week." He flipped the page on the clipboard. "He is suffering extreme hypothermia. We are doing everything we can to raise his body temperature, but it remains right now at 20 degrees lower than normal."
Munch felt his throat close at the doctor's words, but forced his expression to remain neutral.
"From what we saw, it looks like he was restrained for the entire time he was held captive. There is tissue damage and swelling of his wrists, and there are several broken fingers on each hand. Blistering around his mouth indicates he was also gagged for an infinite amount of time, most likely from packaging tape."
The Captain's hands were clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles were turning purple.
He continued, "We had to perform a series of painful skin grafts to patch his right shoulder. The circumference of the wound was 13 centimeters." The doctor looked visibly disgusted as he said, "It looks like it was sliced into like a pumpkin."
Fin flinched at the words, and the doctor went silent as he saw the effect his description was having on the detectives.
"I'm very sorry to have to tell you this," he said slowly. "There is a more serious concern that I haven't yet mentioned."
Tears had slowly streamed down Olivia's face while Dr. Adams had been telling them of her partner's condition. She held her breath, not sure if she could take whatever it was he was about to say.
The doctor bit his lip and looked at the four distraught figures before him. They looked exhausted, terrified, and furious all at the same time. No matter how many times he delivered upsetting news to families of his patients, it never got easier, and now was no exception. Sighing, he took a breath and dropped the bomb.
"A series of deep stab wounds was found in both of his arms that travel from the forearm to the wrists. There is severe sinew damage and a total of 100 torn muscle ligaments. We also suspect permanent nerve damage, as Elliot is not responding to stimulus in the areas at all."
Olivia's eyes were wide with total fear now. "What are you saying, Doctor?" she asked, on the verge of losing it completely.
The man's eyes were sad as he said, "We may face the situation of having to amputate his arms below the elbows."
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