Chapter Three

The medic hadn't been joking about the rarity of amnesia. Olivia didn't catch on immediately, however, when the fifth doctor popped his head in to 'examine' her, she realized that she'd become a curiosity. It wasn't a feeling she enjoyed and it wasn't an experience she was going to put up with either.

She carefully lowered herself from the bed, tentatively finding her balance. The dizziness wasn't nearly as bad as it had been, but she was still a little shaky. She gripped the doorway for extra support and leaned her head out, searching for the only thing she knew. Conveniently, she decided it was also the only thing that would help her since the hospital staff clearly wasn't going to.

She spied him not ten feet away, pacing nervously. Tall, hot, and far too worried about her to be just friends. Amnesia or not, she was a lucky girl. She smiled to herself.

Before she was able to call him, another man stepped in front of her. He, as opposed to Elliot, was not attractive. Or welcome. She pulled back slightly as she studied him. His little boy hair-cut. His slightly stupid smile. His eager face. He was gullible. She could tell. He was also an ass-kisser. She knew that much just looking at him.

"Hi, Olivia. I'm Chester Lake. We work in the same unit. Or do you remember that?"

Hearing that she worked with him, she tried to hide her grimace, but she was fairly certain that she failed entirely. "No, I don't."

His smile didn't fade as she thought it should have. It was kind of like hearing someone really was paralyzed. There should have been a dent in his glee. "It would be kind of nice having to start all over. Forget lots of things you don't want to remember, right?"

She kind of wanted to smack him, but she wasn't sure if he was a superior in some way and therefore was afraid to take any such action.

Another man stepped up, saving Olivia from having to respond. "Damn, Lake, back up. Give the woman some room." The man, whose tough appearance probably scared a lot of people, turned a kind smile in her direction. "Don't pay attention to him, Olivia." He offered his hand. "Friends call me Fin."

"You mean like a fish?" She hadn't expected that and a frown crossed her face. "Are you sure they're friends?"

He grinned, his hand moving to wrap around her shoulders, hugging her against his side. His attention went to Elliot and the man sitting close by. "You hear that? She's still in there. I think our girl just wanted a few vacation days."

She didn't know Fin, not anymore than she knew Elliot, but she decided she could trust him. Mostly because Elliot saw Fin's arm around her and didn't get mad. She smiled at him, not expecting the rush of warmth when his eyes met hers after so short a time apart. It made her tingle.

"What did the doctor say?" Elliot moved to her side, replacing Fin, but his arms didn't move from his side. Whatever they were to each other, she suspected their coworkers weren't privy to the information either. The only one who knew was Elliot and he didn't appear to be explaining.

She shrugged. "Nothing. He said he'd be back, but then about a hundred of his friends came in and asked me stupid questions. I think I'm their entertainment for the evening."

The bald man joined in the conversation. "What sort of questions?"

"Oh, sorry, Liv, this is Don Cragen." Elliot motioned at the man who politely offered his hand to shake. "He's our captain."

The man's concern was obvious as he smiled at her and shook his head. "You don't remember any of us?" She shook her head, hoping it wouldn't have an impact on the career she hoped she liked. "Not even him?" His finger pointed at Elliot, a hint of a snicker in his voice.

She shook her head again and found her hands clinging to Elliot's arm suddenly. "No, but I like him."

Cragen didn't bother to hold back the snicker then; neither did Fin, who apparently found the comment hilarious.

Olivia looked at Elliot. He shrugged. She felt she needed to defend herself. "It's probably because he was the first person who talked to me when I woke up. It probably happens to everyone, except the doctors are too busy asking me who the president is to give me any valuable information."

Her last comment got Elliot's full attention. "And the answer to that would be?"

"Nope, not a clue, and yet I know that the president is the head of the executive branch of the government. And I know the other two branches are the legislative and the judicial, but don't ask me anyone in those branches." She really wished someone could explain to her why she knew everything she'd learned in school, but she couldn't remember where or when she'd gone to school.

Cragen seemed as amused by her as everyone else. "That's bizarre. It's just personal information you can't remember?"

Her hold on Elliot's arm tightened. "I really want to go home."

The arm she was attached to moved suddenly, folding around her waist protectively. "Why don't we go find the doctor and see what he can tell us?" He led her away from her coworkers. "Sorry."

"For what?" She was just thankful he'd separated her from people with whom she no longer had anything in common.

"If I'd known you were finished, I would have kept them away from you." He glanced over his shoulder at them. "Nosy bunch, aren't they?"

"I wasn't exactly finished." She avoided the accusing stare he turned her way. "They were making me uncomfortable."

His eyes darkened. "Who was? How? Did they touch you?"

Putting her hands on his chest to settle him, she laughed. "Down boy. They were just fascinated by me. That's all." She marveled at his overreaction. "What's with you?"

Sighing, he put his hands in his pockets. "I should probably tell you that we work special victims."

She imagined in her short circuited brain somewhere that meant something. But until she could access that, which she didn't know would ever happen, she had to rely on Elliot to tell her what she needed to know, especially since she hadn't yet met a single person she felt like she could trust besides him. "What sort of special victims?"

He looked pained for a moment. "It's not really important, let's find the doctor."

"Ok." She really wanted to know, but she wasn't going to press him. Trust or not, she didn't really know how he would react to her demanding to know. If he got mad and left, she'd be on her own. She much preferred having someone around to help her. She smiled at him, letting her hand find his. "Lead the way."

His eyes widened as they moved to their connected hands. After a moment, he nodded and mumbled something under his breath. "Yeah, ok."

The doctor was less than helpful. Olivia imagined that had she needed those stitches, he might have been slightly more useful. Instead he gave them a lot of nonsense, basically saying that amnesia was an uncommon result from a head injury and that she had a 50-50 chance of regaining her memories and that there was nothing he could do to help the process. He suggested a psychological consult, which Olivia flat refused. She didn't know what was in her head, but she knew she didn't want someone else poking around in there. The doctor wanted to admit her and run more tests, but Olivia begged.

And begged and begged and begged.

Finally, Elliot relented and agreed to stay with her at the doctor's insistence. According to the doctor, she needed some supervision until they verified the knowledge that she seemed to have retained. There was no way to be sure where her memories stopped. She could leave the gas on, he suggested, or touch a hot stove or walk into traffic. It irritated Olivia that the doctor spoke to Elliot like she wasn't there, but she swallowed the hurt pride down. She was happy to have Elliot staying with her, so she could put up with it for the time being. With a promise that he would bring her back if she showed any other symptoms, Elliot was allowed to take her home. Olivia listened while he arranged for someone to take over their work for the day.

The taxi was taking forever and Olivia was exhausted. She couldn't say what she'd been doing that day that exhausted her, but then again, she couldn't say what her last name was either. Her eyes fell on the plastic bracelet the nurse had fastened around her wrist.

Benson, Olivia. 11/04/69.

So she had her name and birthday. If she could only find out what year it was, she'd know how old she was too.

Since they were stuck in traffic and Elliot gave every impression that he was resigned to a long cab ride, she figured she should do the same. Yawning, she leaned her head on his shoulder. She felt him start, surprise tensing his muscles under her. He said nothing.

Still she felt she should explain herself as it was rapidly becoming clear that touching him wasn't something she usually did. Strange, considering what information she had on their relationship and the way he tried to take care of her. "I'm tired."

There was a smile in his voice as his arm moved around her shoulders, nestling her closer to his side. "I guess the amnesia didn't make your body forget about your little marathon this afternoon."

"Huh?" She was too tired to look up, but she felt a slight pressure on the top of her head. She wanted to believe it was a kiss, but it could just as well have been his chin coming to rest on her head. Either way, she smiled. He might not be used to her touching him, but he didn't mind it. She decided she'd keep being affectionate and encouraging him to be the same way. Eventually he'd have to give her more details about them. Or they'd wind up in bed. She wouldn't mind both.

"Nothing. Get some rest. I'll wake you when we get there."

She fell asleep listening to the impatient sounds of traffic and the steady beating of his heart.