Life Counts

By: Liv-x-Case-Benson & dcmasters

Ch. 2: To Be Named

They rushed in, having just arrived and began working on Casey, managing to get her breathing again before putting her onto a stretcher. "You can join us with the baby," one of the EMTs said, stepping into the back.

Olivia nodded, shakily walking into the ambulance, holding their little girl close. "I-is she going to be ok?"

"We'll know more at the hospital,' she replied, the baby beginning to grizzle again.

Olivia unzipped her jacket, carefully placing their little girl inside and snuggling her close, kissing her head, protecting her from the chill.

They rushed Casey through as soon as they got to hospital, asking Olivia to wait.

The baby seemed to dislike the distance she was from Casey and constantly make disgruntled noises or cried.

"No, no, sweetie! Shh. It's ok. It's ok," she said, walking over to a nurse. "Excuse me? Uh...my wife was just rushed in and...do you have an extra blanket and a diaper for a newborn?" she asked, trying to keep her composure.

"Sure," the nurse said offering a somewhat sympathetic smile as she fetched the necessary items, handing them to Olivia.

Olivia smiled, thanking her as she walked into the restroom, putting the diaper on her and wrapping her in a warm blanket before walking back out. "Thank you, really. It's been...well a rough day.." she said as she unzipped her jacket letting it hang open to reveal her weapon and shield.

"Um..." the nurse frowned, her eyes on the gun.

"Oh," she pulled out her ID. "Sorry. I'm Detective Olivia Benson."

The nurse relaxed. "I'll get the doctor to come and speak to you about your wife."

Olivia smiled, stuffing her ID back in her pocket. "Thank you," she said, going to sit down.

She gave the same smile she'd given earlier, Nick arriving the same time as the doctor. "Olivia Benson?" he asked, extending a hand to her, his scrubs somewhat blooded.

Olivia stood, shifting the baby and shaking his hand.

The baby began grizzling again.

"Please, sit," he insisted, doing the same after Olivia, "Casey's in the operating room. We managed to stabilize her before she went through."

Olivia sat down, nodding. "What happened?"

"Because the labor happened so quickly, the placenta detached from the uterus causing hemorrhaging."

"She's going to be ok, right?"

"If she makes it through surgery, she'll have an excellent chance. They'll try and avoid hysterectomy at all costs," he replied. Casey had told Olivia when they'd first discussed children that she wanted a big family.

"How do her chances look?" Olivia asked, rocking her daughter.

"She's young, fit, otherwise healthy. I'd say as long as they stop the bleeding she'll make a full recovery."

Olivia nodded, sighing. "Good. Did someone want to check this little one out since we're here?"

"Follow me," he smiled, leading them to a cubicle to check her over.

Olivia smiled, rocking her gently. "Shh. It's ok."

Just over an hour later, the doctor returned. "Casey made it through surgery. I can take you to her if you'd like?"

Olivia smiled, cuddling the sleeping baby close. "Absolutely."

The doctor showed them to Casey's room where she lay asleep, her pale skin seemed even paler than usual, a few bruises already forming on her arms from the attempts to get IV access.

Olivia sat in the chair beside the bed, holding Casey's hand and kissing it. "It's ok, honey, we're here."

Casey squeezed Olivia's hand gently, the only thing she could manage to let Olivia know she'd heard her as the anesthetic drugs wore off.

Olivia smiled, standing and leaning over to kiss her gently before sitting back down.

It was a while before Casey began to properly come round from the anesthetic, her throat dry as she croaked, "The baby..."

Olivia sat forward. "She's fine. She's right here with me. I even had her checked out by the doctor and she's perfectly healthy. Just sleep. We're fine, honey."

Casey shook her head, still stubborn even now. She attempted to push herself up, failing miserably, then held out an arm for the baby.

Olivia let the bed rail down, sitting beside her, extending the bed up to a sitting position. She handed the baby to her. "Here Mommy."

Casey mustered up all the strength she could to pull her close to her chest, her eyes opening slightly, smiling softly. "Sorry," she whispered, her head now on Olivia's shoulder.

Olivia gently wrapped her arms around her. "No, you're ok now. That's what matters most to me. The two of you. Baby, I missed you so much," the detective said, kissing her head.

"Missed you too, Benson," she said softly, drifting back to sleep as the baby finally settled.

Olivia laid on the bed with her, snuggling her close.

It was morning before Casey finally woke, smiling down at the baby still in her arms. "Morning little one."

Olivia kissed their cheeks. "Hi. How do you feel?"

Casey couldn't take her eyes from her daughter. "A little woozy. Did she wake much?"

"Four times, but she was only hungry or needed to be changed."

"What shall we call her?" Casey asked as the baby nuzzled at her breast, "Oh, hear your Mama mention food, did you?"

Olivia laughed. "I think she'd prefer the real thing to formula. You know I've been thinking of that too. I-if you hadn't...made it I was going to name her Casey. But now I think it just might get confusing."

"I promised I'd never leave you, and I won't. I'll always fight for us."

Olivia smiled, hugging her tightly. "I know, but...it was frightening for a bit."

"Sorry," Casey replied, kissing Olivia's cheek gently as she moved to feed the baby.

Olivia smiled, getting up to close the door so Casey could have some privacy to breastfeed before sitting back beside her. "All that matters is you're okay now."

"I love you both very much."

"And we love you. What do we want to call her?"

"Hmm... what about... Emily?" Casey suggested.

"Why Emily?"

"It was my great grandmother's name."

"Emily...Selene?"

Casey smiled, kissing Olivia gently.

Olivia kissed her back, purring gently.

"Don't start me off, because we can't continue," she smirked.

Pulling back, Olivia smiled, kissing Emily's head as her eyes drooped. "Somebody's tired."

Casey removed Emily from where she fed, rocking her gently. "When can we go?"

"I'm not sure, but the doctor will be in some time to check on you. He came in earlier when I was feeding her."

Casey nodded. "I never want to let her go."

The detective smiled. "She's perfect. So sweet. So soft."

"I love her smell. I can't believe she's ours. She was definitely worth all the pain. You were just in a hurry to see your Mama weren't you?"

"Yeah, she must've been. I felt it at first too. That was I raced back. But damn, that was insane."

"It certainly was. At least your sympathy didn't extend as much as it did when you developed morning sickness. Please don't do that next time. It was hard enough cleaning up my own vomit when I was being sick, let alone yours too."

"Ugh! Yuck! I wonder if they can give me something. But, if you think about it, it really proves we were meant to be. Not everyone experiences that."

"True. Here, lay with me whilst we sleep," Casey said, moving over to allow room for Olivia.

Olivia smiled, scooting over into the middle after kicking her shoes off and covering up, wrapping her arms around them. "Always."

What do you think will happen next?

Reviews are appreciated!

Liv-x-Case-Benson & dcmasters