Previously

Dr. Bowman nodded to Olivia in greeting, before asking as he reached them "Wife?", turning his eyes from Olivia to Don in question.
"No," Don told him, "we don't know of the whereabouts of any of his family members yet. Olivia is Elliot's old partner."
"Alright", Dr. Bowman nodded in understanding. "Is he gonna be okay?" this time it was Olivia who posed the question. "Well, the stab wounds to his torso were pretty bad. We were able to fix most of the damage they caused, eventually, but not all: his right kidney had suffered too much damage it had to be removed or else he would have died of internal bleeding… I'm sorry. His head was banged pretty violently as well; he has at least a mild concussion, but we'll need to run some more scans before we can clear him of the possibility of brain injury." The doctor sighed running his hand over his face before continuing, "His chest bullet was the worst, however. It punctured his left lung and hurt a major artery. We managed to fix the artery and stop the bleeding, thankfully, but he'll be on a ventilator until his lung is able to function on its own again." Dr. Bowman concluded sorrowfully, seeing Don's open-mouthed expression and Olivia's sudden loss of color caused by her own shock. "We did our best… now all we can do is wait for his body to recover and for him to decide his life is worth the pain and the fight he needs to put forth in order to heal"….

Now

Olivia Benson never felt so much bewilderment in her life. She felt weak in her knees. This was not real. "Are you okay, ma'am?", she clenched her teeth tight to hold the turbulence of emotions she was internally fighting and failing not to crash under, and forcefully nodded to the concerned doctor's question. Don snapped out of his own trance and looked at her, at the doctor's inquiry. She wasn't alright. He'd known her too well to know when she was putting up a front. "Liv, sit d—", but Olivia wasn't there any more to listen to the rest of his imperative. The doors of the surgery room had opened and a gurney was just being wheeled out; that's where Olivia was. It was Elliot. And the doctor wasn't lying when he said he was in a bad shape. "Elliot?", she called to him, putting a hand to the rail of the gurney, halting the accompanying small group of nurses' passage. "El? … Can you hear me?", her eyes stung and clouded with tears, and her voice betrayed the emotion wrecking her veins. She searched his face for any sign of recognition, but he remained expressionless and still. The tears finally welled out of her eyes and landed on his bare shoulder near the hand she rested on the pillow his head rested on. Elliot's face was battered; he sported a black swollen eye and several small cuts to his stubbled jaws. "Ma'am… excuse me, ma'am, but we need to transport the patient. You can see him when he's settled. Please, step aside.", a bulky African-American nurse impatiently said to Olivia. "Where are you taking him?", Olivia asked the short-tempered nurse, stepping a bit to the side.

"ICU, second floor, to the right of the elevator. But you gonna have to wait till Dr. Bowman has allowed your friend visits, though.", the middle-aged nurse retorted over her shoulder as she had already started walking with the other nurse and nurse assistants accompanying Elliot's gurney towards the elevator down the hall. Olivia started to follow after them for a few steps before stopping in the middle of the corridor. She didn't know what to do. Everything inside was coming to a dead-end and all she felt was heavy sickness weighing down within her chest. This was all just a fucked up dream her twisted imagination had woven up out of her worst fears. Elliot hadn't been real for EIGHT years. He can't be now! She hadn't felt heartbroken, in relation to him for at least five damn years! Her heart can't be breaking all over again like this for him now. He can't be dying! Her body shook with tremors of silent sobs that stole her breath. "Liv! Liv!", Don's arms encircled her shaking frame from behind and braced her in a fatherly embrace against the storm that was engulfing her. Air came back to her lungs and she took it in a loud inhale of a breath that soon turned into a chain of muffled sobs while Don held her head to his chest and tightened his hold around her. "Shh… Shh… I've got you, Liv... It's gonna be okay… it's all gonna be alright."

When she had calmed down some, Don moved them both to the chairs they'd sat in before their meeting with Dr. Bowman, and helped Olivia sit down. "let me get you something to drink, Olivia, okay?", he talked to her soothingly, rubbing her arm. She nodded, wiping her face. "I'm okay. I'm okay. Don't worry, Don… Thank you." Don gave her a sad smile and gently squeezed her shoulder once, before saying "I'll get us some coffee and be right back." "And I'll go freshen up then. Meet you here in ten.", Olivia replied, getting to her feet. Don nodded and took off.

Ten minutes later, Olivia met Don just as he was getting out of the hospital canteen with their drinks. She took hers with a quiet 'thank you' before walking with Don to the terrace attached to the waiting room. They found themselves two plastic chairs to sit on and sat quietly, looking out at the florescent-lit, neatly trimmed hospital garden beneath the night sky. The cool air was cleansing. Olivia was grateful for the moment's sense of peace. She breathed in deeply before taking a sip from her coffee. "So…", she started, "have the guys from the 1-3 figured out any clues as to who is behind this, yet?", she questioned. "Not as far as I know, no. But they're putting out there every officer available they've got. CSU are at the location where Elliot was found, collecting every bit of evidence they can trace as we speak. That friend of mine there in the 1-3 promised to inform me once they've got something… don't worry, Liv…we're gonna get whoever is responsible for this", Don concluded with assurance in his eyes. "They better do." She didn't put forth any more questions, and Don respected her need for the few moments' silence to collect her thoughts.

They finished their coffee and headed back into the hospital. They rode the elevator to the ICU floor, and went to the information desk to ask after Dr. Bowman. The young man on the information desk told Olivia that he was running some scans on one of his patients, and would be back at his office in about 20 minutes.

Olivia's phone rang just then, and she excused herself from Don when she saw her son's nanny's caller ID.

"Susan! I'm late I know. I'm sorry.", Olivia greeted apologetically. She had called Susan when she was just wrapping up and told her and Noah she was on her way home. That was two hours ago now. "Hi, Olivia. Umm it's okay, don't worry about it. I know things at work get out of hand often. Noah and I just wanted to check on you.", the nanny said kindly. "I'm okay… I'm good. Just… just had been called for an emergency and I'm at the hospital now with a friend.", Olivia informed Susan. "Oh my God! I'm sorry! Are they gonna be alright?", came Susan's concerned reply through the phone. Olivia sighed rubbing her forehead and running her hand through her hair once before replying, "We don't know yet, Susan. We'll have to wait and see. Can you put Noah through, please?".

"Of course.", Susan answered.

"Mom?", Noah's beloved little voice came a couple of seconds later. And just hearing his warm small voice then made her eyes water.

"Heey! Noah, buddy, how is it going?"

"O-kay… aren't you coming home for story time?"

Olivia's hand shot up to her mouth to stifle the sound of her crying. What she would give to have Noah in her arms right now!

"Mom?... Are you still there?"

"I'm right here, baby. I-I don't know if I can make it home tonight, sweetheart. An old friend of mine is very, very sick… he has no one else right now to stay with, baby, so mommy needs to stay here for a while to make sure he's gonna be okay.", Olivia explained to her son softly.

"Who is he?", Noah wanted to know.

"You haven't met him before, Noah; we were friends from a long time ago. Do you remember that picture I once showed to you of my old friend Elliot and I?"

"uh-huh…"

"Well, that's him.", Olivia told him, with a sad smile.

"Listen, Noah, will you be a good boy for me? Have some nice dinner with Susan and brush your teeth before going to bed?"

"Ookay….", his little voice replied.

"You've finished your homework, right?"

"yeah…."

"Okay, great buddy. I'm so proud of you. Now go get your dinner."

"okay…."

"And Noah? I will make it up for you, honey. We will read that story together, I promise…."

"Alright, mom. Just come home soon. I drew a ZOO! With aaall the animals!"

"You did! Wow, I can't wait to see it! Great job, Noah…. Will you make some more pictures for me then till I get home?"

"Yaay!" he squealed excitedly, bringing a smile to Olivia's face as she pictured him sitting and drawing and coloring happily.

"Awesome! I'll see you soon then, buddy. I love you, Noah.", Olivia said sincerely to her son.

"Love you too, mom. Bye.", Noah returned, excitement still lacing his voice.

"Bye.", Olivia whispered, ending the call. She pocketed her cellphone, and turned around to see Cragen talking to one of the cops, his back to her. She marched back towards them, with strong steps. The brief conversation with her son had provided her with a most-needed emotional reprieve from the day's on-going hysteria! She took in a deep breath, bracing herself for what she was going to hear from the cop. She could do this. Elliot, or at least her Elliot from eight years ago, deserved her to be strong for him. Their old partnership, no matter how terribly or unexplainably it had ended, demanded of her that kind of honoring. And she was going to do her best to do that. She must.

"Benson.", Cragen looked over his shoulder when he heard her footsteps echoing behind him, before he called her name ushering her to join them. "Officer Miller, this is Captain Olivia Benson of SVU, and former partner of Elliot Stabler. Benson, this is Officer John Miller, head of the CSU team handling our case."

Cragen watched Olivia shake hands with Miller, exchanging their titles in greeting. "Officer, what have you got for me?", Olivia went straight to the point, not wasting any time. She was in full professional mode now. Whatever emotions seeing Elliot had stirred in her earlier, she had managed to bury them some safe distance beneath the surface so that she could handle this.