"I hate you. I don't know how I ever loved you. I was stupid to ever fall into your bed." A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as she sat in the hospital waiting room. The ticking clock on the wall in front of her only reminded her of how little time had passed since the last time she had checked it.
It had started as all fights did: a voiced thought. It had started the night before, when Detective Olivia Benson arrived home six hours late. Infuriated and lonely, Casey had lashed out, crying that Olivia didn't love her, and that her job meant more than her girlfriend. "You don't even come home anymore!" she had screamed.
"I'm not going to apologize for having a job that calls me away from you all of the time. You are not a kitten, and you don't need constant attention!" Olivia had argued.
"Constant attention?" Casey scoffed, following her into their bathroom. "How about none? You only want me around when you want to fuck me, and then you either roll over and go to sleep, or you leave again. If that is constant attention, may the God of bad relationships curse me to oblivion."
Olivia rolled her eyes, entering the bedroom. As she threw her gun and shield onto the nightstand, she grabbed Casey by the shoulders. "Listen to me, Casey, or I will walk out that door and I will not come back. Is that what you want? Is it?"
"I don't care anymore! All I am is your human sex toy. I was stupid to ever fall into your bed!"
Olivia let go as quickly as she had grabbed the younger woman. "Maybe when you can understand that I love you with everything I have, but don't have the time to show it constantly, you can calm yourself. Goodnight, Casey."
"I hate you!" Casey screamed as the detective stormed out of the apartment. As the front door slammed closed, the attorney laid on the bed, sobbing.
"Miss Novak?" the nurse asked, pulling the attorney from her thoughts. "Detective Benson is awake. You may see her now."
Casey wiped her tears, only to feel a hundred more stream down her cheeks. Entering the dimly lit room, she choked at the sound of the monitor beside the bed. And there, on the bed, rested Olivia Benson, a patched gunshot wound staining the gauze that covered it. Casey sat beside her. "You're awake," she murmured.
"I am awake," Olivia agreed faintly. She gently reached up, using her remaining strength to wipe Casey's tears. "Don't cry, baby," she whispered.
"You were shot while chasing a suspect, and the last thing I said to you was that I hated you! Olivia, I'm…I…" Casey's voice broke, and she dissolved into tears. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "Don't leave me…"
Olivia managed a grim smirk. "Leave you? Casey, you can scream at me, tell me you never want to see me again, and never speak to me again. But I will never leave you. Nothing could keep me from you."
"You almost died," Casey said quietly. "And if I hadn't made you leave, you would be okay."
Olivia wiped her tears again. "No. I'm fine, and so are you. I love you, Casey. You are my princess for all eternity."
Casey sniffled, burying her head in her girlfriend's arm. "I love you too," she murmured. "I always have and always will."
And as they rested together in the gloomy hospital room, the couple reflected on the things in their relationship that needed change. The wind howled outside, the snow-blanketed ground endangering all. But their love had survived a heartless winter.