Disclaimer: I do not own the characters used in the writing of this story. It is for entertainment purposes only, and no profit is being made.

Elliot slowly awoke. He tried to gain his bearings, but he was so groggy. Regaining complete vision, he realized he was in a hospital bed. Glancing down, he saw fresh bandages over his chest. The night's events came flooding back to him. Olivia. He tried to sit up and get out of bed, but his limbs were heavy.

"Stay where you are." It was the captain.

"Where's Olivia?" he growled.

"Calm down, Detective. She's still in surgery."

"What the hell happened, why am I here?"

Sigh. "Olivia was shot, you tried to keep her conscious. EMS showed up just as she faded. You got this weird look on your face, and beat the hell out of a dead guy."

"What?"

"You were angry I guess, and it took three of us to pull you off of the perp, who was already shot dead on the floor, and then they sedated you." He had an incredibly weary look on his face. "I believe we call it extreme emotional disturbance," he added with a hint of amusement.

Elliot shook his head, trying to piece everything together, but the last thing he recalled was Olivia's slackening grip on his hand.

"I need to see her."

"You can't, she's in surgery. Why don't you tell me what the hell happened before John, Fin and I showed up?"

Elliot gave him the minimum – Roger's identity, his reasons for assaulting them, and his responsibility for the murders that occurred this past week. "I don't know how he managed to get in Olivia's apartment, or how he knew so much about us. But he said his brother helped him, so maybe someone should talk to Stuckey." Just then, there was a knock on the door. A doctor poked her head in: "Captain Cragen? Detective Benson is out of surgery."

"How is she?"

"Touch and go, but she's a fighter and her chances are good. We almost lost her a few times on the table, but she's stable now."

Elliot sighed with relief. He couldn't bear the thought of losing her, and he couldn't believe that he had actually gone temporarily insane because of it. With a pang, he realized that struggling with Roger had caused her to nearly die.

"Anything else you can tell us?"

"Well, the bullet didn't hit any major organs or arteries, but it came very close, which is why it was so difficult to distract the slug. The cuts on her chest and abdomen posed some possible problems for infection, but everything should be okay and we're hopeful that she'll pull through."

"Okay, thank you, doctor. Elliot, I suggest you get some rest."

"No way. Take me to her room."

Olivia watched, helpless again, as she watched Roger Stuckey ask herself question after question. He got to last one: "Olivia, are you in love with your partner?" This time though, things had changed. Elliot didn't explode, and was not advancing on Roger. She couldn't answer the question and was forced to watch as Roger shot Elliot. He bled out on the floor, and she couldn't get to him. And then Roger pointed the gun at her…

"Elliot!" She bolted upright, caused pain to shoot up her side and torso, and her head to pound ferociously.

"I'm here," he said wearily. "Don't move, it will just make it worse."

She looked to her left, and he was sitting in the chair next to her hospital bed, looking more worn out than she had ever seen him. He was shirtless, and with sadness she noticed the fresh bandages on his chest that looked very similar to her own.

"Bad dream?"

"The worst…" She paused. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I - "

Elliot cut her off. "Don't. None of this is your fault." He was so tired but refused to sleep. "I'm so sorry – I got you shot. And if I had driven faster, maybe you wouldn't be as hurt. And I'm sorry about earlier…it was uncalled for, I didn't mean it."

"Please don't apologise. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you." Olivia quickly surveyed her body. "Now I understand how much gun shot wounds hurt…"

Elliot smiled slightly and then looked at his partner. "Look…I have been scared before.…but never have I been as terrified as I was last night…when I thought you were gone."

Olivia thought for a moment. "The last thing I remember is your face. What happened?"

"You know…I'm not really sure. I'll explain later." Long pause. "Liv, is there anyone you want me to call? Maybe Simon?"

She smiled weakly. "I wasn't lying to Roger. I haven't talked to Simon for months. And you know better than anyone that there is no one else. I'm alone." She looked at the ceiling and sunk into her pillow. She hated the feeling of having no family, especially at times like this.

Elliot shifted slightly in his seat. "Liv…do I really have to tell you that you're not alone?"

Looking back at him, they locked eyes. Tearfully, she replied, "Thank you." Those two words are used so lightly sometimes, but in this case, they encompassed so many things and were more heartfelt than anything she had ever said.

Elliot's gaze shifted, and he gave that her that intense, questioning look he often used before asking a serious question. "Why couldn't you answer Roger's last question?"

She knew this would come up sooner or later, and she might as well explain while slightly delirious from the pain. "El…I don't know. I just…maybe it's because I don't know the answer."

Elliot thought for a few moments. "I don't know what to say…"

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each to their own thoughts. For some reason, it wasn't as awkward as it should have been.

"Shouldn't you be getting home to Kathy?"

Elliot winced. "Kathy can wait. She's used to it by now."

"El, you should really go. I'll be fine."

He paused. Gently, he reached out his hand, and slowly brushed her hair back. "I know you'll be fine," he whispered, "but right now, I would rather be here…" He didn't add with you.

Olivia grabbed Elliot's hand and pulled it down, away from her face, but did not let it go. It was one of the hardest things she'd ever done. His strong hand had felt wonderfully bittersweet, but she was not cruel. "I - …Kathy…"

The two of them stayed silent for a long time, never loosening the grip on each other's hands.

And then Olivia burst: "El, we need to talk about everything that has happened. We can't go back to doing the silent thing. I couldn't take it."

She sounded almost hysterical, but at the sound of her partner's voice, she quickly calmed down. "Take it easy, Liv. We can talk now, unless you're too tired - "

She cut him off. "No, I need to do this now."

"Alright. I'll talk first, okay? Ahh…I wanted to thank you for saving my life last week, for what you did in the lab. It must have been hard for you…I know I should have thanked you much earlier, and I have no excuse. " It felt so weird to be talking like this, because they hadn't in such a long time, but it felt good all the same.

Without missing a beat, Olivia replied: "You're very welcome. But, I'm sorry for hitting you. I know it was necessary - "

"Don't apologise. I deserved every slap." He paused. "I've been such a jerk. I've been distant, unsupportive…"

"You know that? Then why did you do it? I don't understand…" God, her head hurt.

Sigh. "I was too caught up with my own problems to see you were hurting…"

Suddenly, there was a quick knock on the door, and Kathy and the Captain rushed in. Elliot and Olivia's hands flew apart as if they had been electrocuted. Thankfully, it went unnoticed.

"Elliot! The captain called and said you were in the hospital. Is everything all right? What happened?" She realized that Olivia was lying in the hospital bed, with Elliot sitting beside her. Her eyes widened in shock. "Olivia! Oh my God, what happened to you? I barely recognized you."

"Calm down, Kathy. We got ourselves a little messed up by a perp."

"Well, you've been here for hours, I think it's time you come home and rest."

Elliot glanced at Olivia. "No, I think I'm going to stay here."

Kathy glared at him. "Can I please talk to you outside?"

Elliot looked apologetically at Olivia, and walked out in front of Kathy, who slammed the door.

Olivia pulled her eyes away from the door that has just swallowed Elliot's back and focused on Don. "Captain…I'm so sorry I forgot to call."

"Oh, nonsense. If you had remembered to call, I would have thought everything was fine, and would never have come to your apartment. And you might not have made it." He paused. He could faintly hear yelling from the hall, which suspiciously sounded like Elliot. "Soon you're going to have to tell me all the details about what happened, but for right now, I just want you to rest. You're pretty banged up."

Olivia smiled weakly. "Yeah, I guess I am. Thanks, Captain."

Don looked at her, and the sight broke his heart. The bandages covered almost her entire torso and her face had bruises on it, which she wasn't yet aware of. Tubes and wires seemed to protrude from everywhere on her body, and she was still on oxygen. "Well…I'm going to go. I think John and Fin will be in to say hi soon."

He turned to leave, and she noticed that his eyes were moist. "Captain, is everything alright?" she asked, alarmed. She had seen her captain angry and upset, but she couldn't remember ever seeing him cry.

He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, surprised at his emotion. "Yes, Detective, everything is fine. Just…please try not to do this again. You gave us quite a scare."

She smiled at him. "Yes, I'll try."

Elliot winced as Kathy slammed the door to Olivia's hospital room. He really did not want to deal with this right now, and hoped she wouldn't push him too hard.

"Elliot, I'm so tired of you putting your work before your family. Why do you think I left you 4 years ago? And I'm not stupid, you know. The Captain called around 2am, wondering where you were, and then suddenly remembered you were at the precinct. What the hell happened?"

He sighed. "Kathy, this isn't about work right now. This is about my partner being injured. And I can't discuss what happened with you, because it has to do with a case."

"Oh sure, your classic excuse for not talking about things. And yeah, Olivia's hurt bad. But you visited her, and now it's time to come home."

"For God's sake, Kathy, how selfish can you be?" He starting to shout, even though he hated public spectacles like this. "Olivia saved your life and Eli's life, and she's saved mine a number of times! Now she's really hurt, and she has no one else. So I'm going to stay here with her as long as I deem necessary, especially because I'm responsible for her being shot in the first place!!" He sat down in one of the chairs in the hallway, and put his head in his hands, trying hard not to break down. Munch and Fin stood about 15 feet down the hallway, pretending not to notice and exchanging awkward glances.

Kathy was angry and jealous, but she also felt bad that Elliot was so upset. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she replied, "It can't have been your fault, stop blaming yourself. And I know Olivia saved my life and I will always be thankful. But that doesn't mean she has to come before your family."

He looked up into her face, livid. "Kathy, are you still in love with me?"

She didn't answer, shocked.

"That's what I thought. I am Olivia's best friend. She needs me here, and here is where I am going to stay, end of discussion. I'll see you later." And without a second glance, he got up and walked toward Olivia's room just as Don was exiting.

"Elliot. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, fine. It's just been…a really long week."

"No kidding. Both you and Olivia are going to be taking some vacation time. You need a break."

"I'm not going to say no to that."

"I wouldn't have let you anyway. I'm going to go back to the precinct to close this case down. And then I'm going to sleep, which I don't think I've done for at least two days."

"Alright, see you, Cap."

He walked back into Olivia's room. "Hey, sorry about that…wait, are you okay? You're crying."

"Am I? I think some of my pain meds are wearing off…either that or they're starting to work and these are tears of relief…but I doubt it. I hate to complain, but…it just hurts so much."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. I'm going to go get a nurse for you, then I need a little air. Do you want some tea or something?"

"Can I have tea?"

"I have no idea, I'll ask a nurse. But…how much can it hurt to throw a flower or a leaf in some hot water?" He winked at her.

"Oh, very funny. Just some plain water would be fine, thanks. And El, don't take too long, okay?"

He smiled. "I'll be right back. I think John and Fin want to visit you anyway. You won't even notice I'm gone."

A few moments later, John and Fin entered her room.

"Damn, Liv. That looks like it hurts."

"Ah, well, yeah. Umm…thank you guys for whatever role you played in getting me out of my apartment. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but I know you were there, so thank you."

"Nah, don't mention it. Munch ran for a knife when Elliot yelled – I had never seen him run so fast. If it wasn't so serious, it would have been hilarious."

"Oh yeah, says the one who practically fell over himself when Elliot threw his shirt at him. Fin jumped to your side pretty fast too."

Olivia laughed and it hurt. "Thank you both."

"Alright, well we're going to head out. Listen, Olivia – consider me your humble servant. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything, I mean it," Munch said as he peered at her over his glasses.

"Same here, Liv. You know where we'll be."

"Thanks guys." They smiled, waved, and left.

Half an hour later, Elliot returned with a cup of water, looking slightly refreshed but still haggard. "Did the nurse come in? Oh, you've moved."

Olivia was favouring the far side of the bed, resting slightly on her left side, facing him, and her oxygen was gone. "Yeah, I was getting uncomfortable. It took a few of them to help move me. Thanks for the water."

"No problem."

"Are you going to head home?"

"No…I'll get a cot in here and stay with you while you rest. It's about a quarter after 8am now, and you haven't gotten a proper nights sleep since..."

Olivia finished it for him. "…what feels like forever." She paused. She knew that by asking him this she was trapping herself, but right now, she wanted to be trapped. "El…could you just sleep on this bed?"

"You mean…with you, on that tiny hospital bed?"

"Yeah…I know it sounds crazy…I just really want to have someone near me." She was in desperate need of some sort of human contact that wasn't violent or aggressive, and she would prefer it be from Elliot.

He smiled to himself. Olivia on pain meds was quite entertaining. He would never let her live this down, but for now, he'd indulge her. "Of course." So that was why she had asked the nurses to move her over.

Elliot poked his head out the door and called a nearby nurse. "Umm…Detective Benson is going to sleep now. Can you please let anyone who approaches know that she's not taking any visitors? Thank you." He turned off the light, and carefully lowered himself onto the small bed beside his partner.

"Let me know if I hurt you."

"You won't."

He was still shirtless, and she could feel his warm skin on the places that weren't covered in bandages. She pressed herself into him as much as possible without being too obvious. Her brain felt fuzzy.

Their heads shared the single pillow. Comfort spread from every point of contact between their bodies, and she felt safer than she had for a very long time. They were both exhausted, and it didn't take long for them to fall into a deep sleep.