Disclaimer: I am not Dick Wolf. I do not own Law and Order: SVU. Please don't sue!
Elliot pulled up at Mercy General Hospital and got out, followed by Alex and Munch. Elliot flashed his badge at the receptionist, who had pulled her platinum blonde hair back into an uncomfortably tight-looking bun. "Manhattan SVU, concerning a sexual assault." Elliot spoke in a no-nonsense tone he reserved for investigations.
"Nurse Davies is with the victim, Olivia Benson. Room twenty- nine, walk down the corridor and turn right," The receptionist said after a moment of tapping on her keyboard.
The trio headed down the corridor.
"Alex, I think you should go in first. We'll wait outside." Munch gestured at the door and Alex nodded.
Just do what you normally do when interviewing victims in court, she told herself. Her job required her to be rather cold and sometimes people called her heartless. Despite her cool demeanor, even Alexandra Cabot found talking to victims difficult.
No matter how many times she told herself to stay detached, she would always get too involved. Bend the rules to put the perps behind bars. Spend hours berating herself over psychopaths who were free to walk the streets and make another victim's life hell.
Alex was busy, but a lot of the time when she was asked to personally see the victims, she lied. She would pretend to be unavailable. It was far beyond her being unsympathetic. She had her own reasons.
Alex knew that if she was with the victims the first time they recounted the rape, failure would not be an option. Once she heard their anguished sobs, looked into their eyes, pictured the bastard's sadistic smile, there would be no way she would let him go. Even if it meant taking the law into her own hands.
The first thing that caught Alex's attention was not the victim herself, but her injuries. Exposed by a thin hospital-gown, she could see purple, finger-like bruises on her neck, cuts all over her bare arms and bruises everywhere. Worst of all, half of Olivia Benson's shoulder length brown hair was obscured by a bandage wrapped around her head.
Alex swore not to let Olivia's rape translate into another statistic of uncharged sexual assaults. New York already had too many sex offenders, pedophiles and the like walking free, let alone another sick, twisted rapist who beat the crap out of his victims.
Alex edged towards the woman sitting up on the bed, who stopped talking to Nurse Davies as Alex entered the room.
"Hey. I'm Alex. You're Olivia, right?" Olivia nodded. Nurse Davies got up, whispering to Alex as she left the room.
"I don't think she knew him. She didn't say much. The doctor's finishing up her rape kit. It should be done in half an hour." Nurse Davies had a chat with Olivia, hoping to instill some normality with some small talk. Alex nodded curtly and Nurse Davies took her clipboard and excused herself.
"I'm not a detective but I'm the Assistant District Attorney for Special Victims Unit. The female detective wasn't available, so I'm helping. Are you comfortable enough to tell me what happened today?" Olivia shifted uncomfortably but nodded and Alex sat on a chair next to the bed.
"It was around eight. I left work at six-thirty and went for a run at the park when I got home. I run every evening." Olivia said this with no expression, like she was being detached to protect herself from reality. Alex squeezed her hand and she kept talking.
"He came up behind me, put a blind fold over my eyes and pushed me on the floor. It was really cold and it was already dark, so there wasn't anyone else around. Oh, god...I shouldn't have gone. How many times have I been told not to go out alone at night?" Olivia turned away from Alex, her detached façade no longer apparent. Alex understood this, many victims of raped blamed themselves.
"Olivia. Look at me. No one, absolutely no one, deserves to be raped. No matter how late they're out, it wasn't their fault. It's the perps fault so don't blame yourself." Olivia nodded and she prepared herself to keep going.
"I know I shouldn't, and it was his fault but I just can't let it go. He's calm. Dangerously calm. Almost like he was very experienced, or just had this planned out a long time ago. He called me pet names. 'Honeybun' , 'sweetiepie'... Anyway, after he blindfolded me, he started kissing me. He pinned me down. I could feel a metal blade against my neck. He whispered to me, 'Sweetie pie, if you struggle, I'll slit your throat. So be good. Behave for daddy.' "
Olivia paused, kept herself from breaking down by taking steady, deep breaths.
I stopped struggling, and he said I was a good girl. Then he said that 'good girls made their father's happy' and I was going to make him happy. His hands were everywhere and then he raped me." Olivia struggled to maintain her composure, and Alex squeezed her hand again.
"What about the cuts and bruises?"
"That was after the rape. He used the knife. I think he's a sociopath. I can just tell…. It's in his behavior." As Olivia talked about the man and his behavior, her voice got stronger. Less fragile, as if she was getting back up from a woman's worst nightmare.
"Psychopathy is a dangerous mental disorder. What makes you suspect that?" Alex did not like sounding skeptical, but it was true that a lot of victims accused their attackers of having mental defects.
"Alex, I'm a criminal psychologist. Have been for almost nine years. I've studied countless psychopaths, sociopaths and the lot. His attack matched the diagnostics. He was calm, prepared and I could tell he felt no remorse. The blindfold proved that he prepares for attacks." She drew in a deep breath.
"Anyway, back to the rape. He started the physical assault after the rape. He cut my arms first. Slashes up and down. He was whispering to me, telling me everything he was going to do. He started choking me. I couldn't breathe. Said a 'slut like me' deserved it. He slapped my face and he grabbed my head and then he slammed it on the ground. That was the last thing I remember before waking up here." Olivia gestured around the room.
Alex was silent her for a few seconds, absorbing the information. "Did you recognize the man? Maybe you know him? Is his voice or his manner of speech familiar?"
Olivia shook her head. She would remember that unfamiliarly cold voice and the laugh, which was still ringing in her ears, for the rest of her life.
"Olivia, I know this is hard, but can you tell the detectives what you told me? I'll stay here if you need me. They just need to take your statement so we can start the investigation as soon as we can."
Olivia reluctantly agreed, knowing that the rapist would probably put more women through the same situation if he was not stopped soon.
"Let them in now, I'm ready to talk." Olivia forced herself to slowly breathe in and out, failing to slow down her thudding heart, so emotionally broken out she was surprised it still functioned.