I hope the last chapter wasn't too angsty for you - and I just generally hope you enjoyed it. I don't know much about premature babies and stuff, so I will try my best but we'll just have to see how it pans out. Here's chapter 2!


"Detective Stabler," a woman's soft, calm voice penetrated Elliot's world as he held Olivia's warm hand to his lips, gazing at her, willing her to be strong, to open her eyes, to tell him everything was going to be okay.

He looked round to see a short chubby woman about ages with him standing in the doorway. She had blonde hair, tied up in a messy bun, and she looked absolutely exhausted, as if she'd had a long night. Despite that, the sight of her seemed welcoming and Elliot suddenly had a feeling that everything was going to be okay.

"We have your baby in the NICU. Would you like to see him?" the nurse asked.

"Him?" Elliot allowed himself a half-smile.

"Yep," the nurse smiled.

"I... uh..." he looked from the nurse to Olivia, and then back. "I don't want to leave her on her own."

"Don't worry about it Elliot," Don Cragen's gruff but reassuring voice came into the room, followed by the man himself. "Go and see your son. I'll stay with Olivia."

Elliot got up, not quite knowing what to say. He looked down at Olivia, and then up at his Captain, who just nodded. He understood completely. He knew that Elliot couldn't keep up with everything going on around him, and he didn't have the heart to explain to the man that they'd had no luck in tracing Emily as of yet.

In the NICU, the nurse guided Elliot over to an incubator in the room that had a chart marked with the words 'Baby Stabler'. Elliot froze as he stood next to his son. He was so tiny, he couldn't have been more than maybe 11 inches, and he was willing to bet that the unbelievably small baby would have almost fitted in the palm of his hand.

"My god," he shook his head, staring at the being that he could hardly believe could even survive outside of the womb. He was amazed how advanced the technology in the hospital must have been to keep this size of baby alive. "He's so small..."

The nurse smiled slightly, bringing a chair over for Elliot, who sat down in it, gazing in at his son.

"How is he?" Elliot asked worriedly.

"He's a fighter. He's doing remarkably well for his size," the nurse nodded, smiling.

"Do you... do you think he's going to be okay?" he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I shouldn't say," the nurse paused. "But I have a feeling he is. I'm not promising anything, but I just have a feeling. After all, he is the son of two detectives."

Elliot smiled at the nurse's optimism. It was the first time he had felt hopeful in these two gruelling, draining days. He thought that it was time to speak to the heavenly father again, so he bowed his head and murmured his prayer. "Our Father, forgive all our misdeeds and wipe away our sin, for you are great and compassionate; your mercy knows no bounds.My heart lies before you, O my God.Look deep within it. See these memories of mine, for you are my hope."

The nurse smiled, asking quietly, "You're a man of faith?"

Elliot nodded, letting out a soft sigh as the nurse laid a hand on his shoulder. "I believe too. I pray every night for every child I see here. If we're lucky God will listen and help us out here."

"Thanks," he nodded, still gazing in at the tiny little baby being kept going by the various machines. The scene reminded him of Olivia's room. So many wires connecting the tiny body up to this machine and that machine that he didn't know which one was which. "How many babies do you see here a year?"

"Hundreds," she replied. "The survival rate is reasonable high."

"Okay," he nodded. "When will I be able to touch him?"

"When he's a little big bigger," the nurse nodded. "It shouldn't be too long, Detective."

"Elliot, please," he nodded.

"Diane," the nurse smiled, moving her hand from his shoulder and went off to attend to another baby, leaving the physically and emotionally exhausted man to spend some time with his son.

"I'm sorry buddy," Elliot whispered in the direction of his son. "I should never have let this happen, but when you're better I'll make it up to you. You might be tiny, but you're perfect. Mommy and I never really decided on a name, so when she wakes up I'll make sure that we think of one that's just right for you, okay? Everything's going to be alright. We're going to have your sister home soon, and Mommy's going to be okay, and you and I buddy, we're gonna be alright too. We'l get through this, won't we?"

That night, Elliot had been prised away from his son, and he was sitting by Olivia's bedside, the television in her room on but not being regarded. Elliot was sitting in the chair, arms folded across his chest, gazing at Olivia, his mind elsewhere. Although he was still terrified of losing Olivia, he knew somehow that she'd be okay. He knew that she wouldn't give up easily. He was just thinking of his kids. All of them, not just Emily and his new baby son. He was thinking about the ones who had been taken by their Mum to live in Australia. He wondered how they were doing. He hoped they were okay.

Suddenly Olivia moved a little. Not a lot, she just clenched and unclenched her fist, but it sent Elliot's heart racing again. He grabbed the hand that had moved, and asked tentatively, "Olivia? Liv, it's me, it's Elliot. If you hear me, squeeze my hand..."

Nothing.

Elliot clenched his jaw, shaking his head. Surely he hadn't simply imagined it? "Come on Liv. I know you're there. Squeeze my hand."

It was the slightest pressure, but she did put some on his hand. He grinned - things were getting better. "There we go. It's okay darling, I'm right here. You think about opening those beautiful eyes and I'll wait right here for you.."

Things were looking up for him. His son was hopefully going to be okay, and his wife was getting better. Gradually, yes, but she was. Things were going to be alright. Soon he'd have his family back round him. They'd not be able to take their son home with them in the near future, but he'd have Olivia home and Emily to, and he'd be able to fall asleep in his own bed, and things would get back to normal, and then when their son was home, everything would like it should have been in the first place, as if nothing had ever happened.

There was a knock at the door, and Elliot looked round to see Fin standing in the doorway. He grinned and said, "Olivia just squeezed my hand. She's gonna be alright, Fin."

"That's good," Fin nodded, looking away uneasily

"What?" Elliot asked coarsely. He hated that look. It could only mean bad things had happened.

"Listen, we uh..." Fin took a deep breath before carrying on. "We got the guy that attacked Olivia, but we haven't got Emily. We did find a small pool of her blood in the back seat of his car, though."

Elliot just stared blankly at his colleague for a moment before shaking his head, standing up. "No, that doesn't mean anything. She gets nose bleeds. It could be a nose bleed..."

"No, Elliot," Fin shook his head. "It doesn't look good."

"Shut up!" Elliot shoved him.

"Hey, come on Elliot," Fin warned.

"No, you come on Fin!" Elliot shoved him again. "You come in here, and you tell me you found my daughter's blood in the back seat of a car, and then you tell me that it's impossible that she just had a nose bleed?! You're not supposed to cut out all the hope I have. It's just not right Fin!"

"I know, it's not," Fin nodded. He was just trying to get Elliot to calm down. He knew that the hot-head didn't really mean this. He was just so distraught that he needed an outlet. "I'm sorry man. I just don't want to sugar-coat it. You know what it's like."

"I..." Elliot tried to speak but his voice cracked. He wasn't good in these situations, when he got emotional in-front of people. It made him uncomfortable. "You gotta find her."

"We're still trying, Ell. We're working round the clock, and we're not gonna stop until we've got her safely back to you," Fin stated, looking right into Elliot's eyes.

He just stood there, feeling exposed and out of place. He shouldn't be the one in here. Olivia shouldn't be lying there in the bed, Emily shouldn't be missing and his son shouldn't be down in the NICU. It wasn't supposed to happen to him. He was the one who was supposed to be telling families that it didn't look good, he wasn't supposed to be told that.

What made it worse was that everyone he had was in trouble or hurt. Olivia, Emily and his little boy. He had nobody at home to give him hope, he had no-one to make him get a grip just for their sakes. He didn't know what to. He was as lost as he had ever been and it was killing him, having nobody to talk to, and he just needed someone. Anyone.

Even later that night, he'd switched the television and the lights off, and he was sitting in the dark, tears rolling down his cheeks. Night was the only chance he got to let his emotions out. He was used to Olivia being there for him when he needed to vent, and that was great, but now he was trying to be strong for everybody and he had nothing left for himself.

Suddenly the door flew open and another nurse, this one he knew as Catherine, exclaimed, "Detective, you have to come now. It's your son."

He shot up, drying his eyes, and he ran after Catherine, all the way down to the NICU to find the machines surrounding his little boy flashing and beeping shrilly.

"We need your permission to help him," she said.

Elliot just stood there, staring in. He was frozen to the spot, and his mind wasn't going. He was only a shell at that moment, but suddenly he realised what he was being asked to consent to, and he nodded. The nurse told the doctors and other nurses inside that he had consented, and they rushed to try and get the equipment set up. "Hurry up..." he muttered, but it wasn't working. They were fiddling and tripping over each other, and he couldn't stand it. "HURRY UP!"


So there went chapter 2. I hope it was good - I thought it was decent. Please review to tell me what you think! : )