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Trouble

Chapter 4

An explosion like dynamite rocked Olivia's eardrums, and the world went dark. She could no longer feel her body, and flashes of images flooded her, of people she knew—Fin and Cragan and Nick and Munch and Amanda and Murphy. And Elliot, how she would miss Elliot.

"Olivia!" A voice sounding much like Elliot's woke Olivia from her trance, and she realized that the only reason the world went dark was because her eyes were closed. Opening them, she saw that Lewis was no longer standing in front of her, and then she noticed his unmoving body lying on the floor. Blinking, she thought it odd that her entire body was numb, almost as if she didn't have arms and legs and other parts she had taken for granted in the past.

"Liv," said the voice again, and Olivia turned her head toward it, and then flinched when she realized there was someone rushing to her, someone whose face she had given up on ever seeing again.

"Elliot?" she rasped, wondering if she really was dead and this was some sort of post-mortem hallucination. And then it hit her—Elliot's gun had gone off before Lewis could finish pulling the trigger of his own.

"It's me. I'm here," said Elliot, busily scanning her for any major wounds, and then settling his gaze with furrowed brow upon her face. "Are you hurt? There's blood—"

She shook her head. "Must be from Lewis. I'm okay."

Turning to him without realizing her hand was still cuffed to the table, her knees buckled and she began to go down, but Elliot caught her in his arms. "I got you," he said gently. "Easy . . ."

Now the feeling started to come back to her legs, but they trembled weakly like pudding, and she couldn't stand. Elliot lowered her to the ground. "I'm going to set you down here so I can un-cuff you."

He went about his business fumbling for keys, and a mouse-like voice called out to her, "Olivia, can I open my eyes now?"

"Amelia," said Olivia, and then she mumbled to Elliot, "Go help her down." She called out to the girl, "Yes, honey. Just don't look to your left."

Elliot disobeyed her long enough to unlock the handcuffs, and then he touched her face and said, "You okay?"

She nodded, and he dashed away from her for a few minutes, presumably to untie Amelia. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned back against the leg of the table. At least one good thing had come out of her self-sacrifice.

As she listened to Elliot soothing Amelia, she rubbed her wrist where the handcuff had rubbed a raw spot. And then he was back at her side, squatting next to her with her pants in hand. Her face flushed as she remembered that she was still naked from the waste-down, and she fumbled around trying to get the damn things on her sensationless legs.

"Here, let me help," said Elliot, as he took charge of the project. Too weak to protest, she let him perform the most basic of tasks for her—getting dressed.

The two of them managed to pull up the slacks around her waist, and Elliot rested a patient hand on her back as she stumbled around with shaking hands to button them. "What . . . what are you doing here?" she said.

"Don't worry about it," he said, rubbing her back. "We'll talk about it later."

When she was done, Elliot sat on the ground facing her and said softly, "You sure you're okay?"

Unable to meet his eyes with her own, she stared down at her hands and nodded. "I'm fine," she croaked.

He stuck his index finger under her chin and lifted it so that their eyes were level, and she finally allowed her gaze to meet his. When she saw the shock and concern reflected in his eyes, it was too much for her to take, and her face scrunched up as she allowed the sobs to finally catch up with the rest of her quivering body.

Elliot pulled her head to his shoulder and cradled her in his arms, stroking her hair as she wet down his shirt with her tears. And then a clatter interrupted the brief moment of quiet as footsteps resounded on the stairs. Suddenly Olivia became very tired, not wanting to move from this spot to deal with the aftermath of her horrific ordeal.

But Elliot stood, pulling her to her feet as he did. "Can you walk down the stairs?" he said as he grasped her around the waist, and she nodded feebly as she put her arm around him and took a few shaky steps toward the exit.

Nick greeted them first, his eyes widening at her appearance. He tried to put his arm around her shoulder and escort her, but Elliot would have none of it, and he tightened his grasp on her waist, saying, "I've got her."

Olivia avoided people's eyes as they ascended the stairs, but she saw the flurried and frenzied faces of Amanda and Fin, and then Murphy. The sergeant stood facing her and reached out to rest a hand on her arm. "Benson, are you hurt?" he asked.

"I, uh . . ." she said, not knowing how to answer that question. Refusing to meet his gaze, she stared at the stairs just beyond him, wishing she could skip all this. She put on her most professional voice, but it was raspy from screaming and the words came out shaky. "Not badly, no. Lewis is dead, Elliot shot him just as he was about to take me out. Amelia's alive and uninjured."

"Okay," he said, and she wished his voice didn't sound like he was talking to a child. "There's an ambulance waiting downstairs. Why don't you go down there and get checked out, and I'll meet you at the hospital."

"Okay." She wanted to just follow his directions and leave, but she knew there was one more thing to tell him so that the forensics team would know what to look for. She started to speak, and he gave her his full attention. "Also, he raped—" she said, the words catching in her throat. Elliot gave her a sympathetic squeeze, and she got up the courage to finish. "He raped me."

Murphy's mouth opened, but he didn't say anything. Brushing past him before he could think of some compassionate way to console her, she wiped away a tear. She could only take one step down the stairs before her legs gave out and Elliot had to catch her again. "Here, let me . . ." he said, and before she could protest, he swept her up into his arms and was carrying her down the stairs like a groom with his bride after some sort of perverted wedding ceremony. She buried her face into his shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to stay numb so she wouldn't have to remember.