Finally! You have no idea how stuck I was for so long and then half of it all just hit me at about 3 am.
/\/\/\/
Just because Brian had been released from the hospital didn't mean that he was actually going to leave. He was a severely stubborn man and wouldn't be stepping a foot anywhere outside of the building until Olivia had gotten the okay to leave too. As soon as he was dressed, he headed straight for Olivia's room.
"Brian," she smiled widely, excited to see him "I see they finally let you free." She had been going stir-crazy since they had made him return to his own room. Numerous times throughout the days she'd been a resident at the hospital various members of the 1-6 had stopped by. The visitor she remembered the most was, around her third day of being confined to a hospital bed, Nick who had stopped by looking more than a little guilty. He felt horrible because he had left his partner alone at such a dangerous time for their squad. Olivia could detected a particular amount of emotion in Nick's voice, whether he wanted her to or not, when he told her that he felt guilty knowing that if she had died that they weren't exactly on good terms.
"Yeah, just got the all clear. I feel great!" He exclaimed throwing his arms out to the side for show as he walked over to her. But when he started coughing Olivia let out a laugh in irony at his need to prove his health ignoring the twinge of pain it created in her body.
"Oh, you seem like you're in grade-A heath there, Brian," she teased him.
When he caught his breath he pulled up a chair next to Olivia's bed. "You're just jealous because you're still confined to this joint."
"You have me there. They think that I'll be able to go home in a few days though. You know, you could go back to my place, have a shower, and order some take-out or something because I highly doubt there's anything in my fridge and if there was it would probably be toxic enough to kill," she told him.
"I'll be fine, Liv. I'm not going anywhere until you're right next to me. I've made it this long on hospital food, I can go another few days." Brian picked up Olivia's hand and lightly placed a kiss on the smooth skin of it.
Olivia swore she could feel her heart flutter in her chest at the feeling of his lips against her skin. "So, exactly what is the nature of our relationship, Mr. Cassidy?"
"Well, Ms. Benson, I was hoping that you would go out with me to dinner sometime. Maybe even be my girlfriend?" he replied, grinning.
"I'd like that," she smiled. "As soon as I'm out of here, you've got yourself a date."
The nurse insisted that Olivia sit in a wheel chair and have someone guide her to the exit of the hospital when she was finally released. Brian placed a hand over his mouth attempting to conceal the fact he couldn't stop snickering as Olivia mustered up as much strength within her voice as she possibly could taking the nurse head on in argument. She had no desire to be pushed anywhere by anyone.
Olivia's fire and determination with even the simplest, smallest, and, possibly, silliest things was something that Brian loved about her.
"Ma'am, it's protocol. Just sit in the wheelchair. The sooner you do, the quicker you'll get to go home with this lovely gentleman over here who hasn't left you alone hardly a minute this whole time," the nurse said trying to make the idea more appealing to Olivia, but she wasn't having any of it.
"Excuse me, I'm a grown woman. I can walk myself to an elevator and then out the front door without someone delivering me there," Olivia retorted.
"You were shot three times, though you may be healthy enough to leave, your body is still much weaker than normal," she tried to reason with her stubborn patient.
Olivia took a moment to examine currently how she was feeling physically. She felt noticeably tired as well as out-of-breath just from standing for a few minutes while arguing with the nurse. She hated feeling this weak and helpless; it wasn't a side of herself that she liked to show the world. The captain would certainly be restricting her to desk duty. "Alright," she sighed, giving in. She felt a sharp soreness in her torso and she sat down in the wheelchair. Her grimace of pain must have been evident because Brian was immediately beside her asking if she was okay.
"I'm fine, Bri. Just a little sore is all," she replied calmly feeling a stinging after-effect from the initial pain.
At the exit of the hospital, Olivia made sure she was out of the wheelchair as quickly as she could manage; ignoring yet another sharp pain caused by her sudden movement.
"Take it easy, Liv. No rush," Brian said placing a supportive hand on Olivia's lower back.
"Brian, I'm fine," she snapped at him immediately regretting it. She lowered her head, upset with herself. She knew he was only concerned for her. "I'm sorry, I just want to get out of here and go home."
"It's alright, baby, I want out of here too and I'm so glad I get to take you with me fully in one piece."
Olivia just grinned at him. He had called her "baby" without even registering it in his brain.
"What? What did I do? Did I say something?" Brian asked, confused.
"C'mon, let's go home. If I recall correctly, you're coming back to my place, right?"
"Unless you're going to let me sleep on a park bench, you'd be correct, Detective Benson."
"Oh, so I'm not 'baby' anymore?" She teased waiting to see if he would pick up on his earlier comment.
"Baby? When did I-" he tried to recall.
"Just a minute ago, you called me 'baby.' I didn't think you noticed."
Brian looked at Olivia's face; really looked at her face. She had absolutely no makeup on, her hair wasn't fixed, but the smile that she had on was the only thing she needed. He'd always known she was a beautiful woman, but now he knew that she was thee most beautiful woman. He spontaneously pulled her directly to him and kissed her with more than he'd ever kissed another woman.
When they finally parted, Olivia was a bit stunned by the suddenness of his kiss. "What was that for?" Her smile was even brighter.
"I-I'm just really glad you're okay," Brian said getting choked up on his words.
Olivia had just taken his hand into hers when their cab pulled up alongside the hospital sidewalk ready to take them to Olivia's apartment. She could clearly hear the seriousness in his words and it was more than visible in his eyes that had begun to water as he tried so hard to hold back any possibility of tears. She led him by the hand but Brian made sure that he opened the cab door for her.
Right after entering Olivia's building the first thing that the couple noticed was the bright yellow "out of order" sign posted on the doors of the elevator.
"You've got to be kidding me," she huffed.
"Want me to carry you?" He asked only half joking.
"No, I can do it," she said despite her dread of having to trek up four flights of stairs.
By the time they made it to the second floor Olivia was shaking and completely out of breath as pain rippled sharply through her torso where she'd been shot. Brian quickly noticed her distress. He was only slightly better off having an extra week to heal and one less bullet hole in his body.
The romantic in him wanted to carry her up the last to flights bridal style, but the realist in him knew that his body was still too weak to manage that so he bent down slightly and told her to, "hop on."
"Seriously, Bri? You're going to give me a piggy-back ride the rest of the way?"
"Completely serious. I don't like watching you in pain and I'm afraid you'll pass out. Don't want you to crack your head open and have to go back to that prison do we?"
Olivia sighed. "Alright then. Forty-six year-old woman going for a piggy-back ride. Ready?" She asked preparing to jump.
"Go for it."
Olivia mustered up what little bit of strength she had left and jumped onto his back quickly wrapping her arms and legs around him to hold on. She felt Brian's hands under her thighs as he headed up the rest of the stairs. Olivia was impressed by his display of strength as she slid off him once they were outside her apartment door.
"Thank you," she said.
"No problem, baby."
"Back to 'baby' then?"
"Well, you're my baby aren't you?" He grinned.
"Yeah," she smiled, putting her key into the lock and opening the door, "I guess I am."
This time, and without warning, Brian swept Olivia off her feet bridal style and carried her into the apartment.
Olivia gave a small gasp of surprise. "I think this part typically comes later in the relationship," she teased.
"I'm a non-conformist, if I want to carry my woman over the threshold now then I'm damn well going to," Brian teased right back giving her a quick peck on the lips before he put her down.
"I'd really like a shower though I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do that without getting my bandages wet," Olivia pondered.
"I think you might just have to let me give you a good old fashioned sponge bath."
/\/\/\/
So, is she going to get that sponge bath? I bet Brian needs one too.
~Liv
