Smith POV
I didn't know what I should have been feeling. It had already happened to me before, but this time it was different because I didn't know the attacker and he whacked my head with a knife. He probably didn't know that I was a cop. He wanted me to be dead, but he didn't do it right. What scares me the most is I don't know who it was. It could have been a personal attack, or it could've been some sick psychopath. The Special Victims Unit detectives took my statement and I had to be in the hospital for the next week due to "severe head trauma." Eames was helping Benson find my attacker so I was stuck with Stabler. Eames knew I hated therapists, so I guess she thought if I talked to a cop about this, I'd be better off. I slept most of the time. Andrea brought her kids in to see me and brought me flowers. What am I supposed to do with flowers? I guess it's the thought that counts.
Stabler POV
I don't know what it was about her case, but I wanted to be off it. I guess I knew I was going to get too involved in it. So I let Eames take my place and I just stayed in her room. I'm not the only one shying away from this case, either. Brian Cassidy has been acting really weird about it and has been losing track of what he's doing. It's tough; I guess when another detective is attacked. The only thing she's said to me was her statement. "Have you found my attacker yet? 'Cause whenever I look up you're here staring at me."
"Uh, well you're cousin and my partner are trying. You can help by telling me if there are any jealous exes you know of."
"Well, when I was in college this guy asked me out and I said no. He was really mad starting throwing things around. He got kicked out. But that was 10 years ago. You really think he'd hold a grudge for that long?"
"Maybe."
"So, are you divorced?
"What? Oh, yeah. How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess. Kids?"
"Four."
"Four? Wow. Child support must be at least half your paycheck."
"Yeah, I guess. So we were going through your records… We—" and she cut me off.
"Yeah, you saw about my stepfather. So what? It's over. It affected my life, but it's over."
"Well, I was going to say I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear it, but I am. And about this too."
"Well, I'm sorry about your wife leaving you. I know why. You're a detective, an SVU detective, no less. Undercover, getting called in at 3 in the morning, never knowing if you're going to be home… That's a lot for a… what do we call them? Outsiders?" I laugh at that. For a rape victim, emotionally she seems like she's doing pretty well.
"What about you?"
"Well, if you looked at my records, you'd know that I'm not married, and no boyfriend as of right now either. It's kind of hard when you're undercover as a prostitute to go on a real date."
"Oh, that's right. That must've sucked."
"It did. Which is why I was happy as hell to be out of there."
"So now you're in Major Case. Why didn't you go back to the FBI?"
"I don't know. My cousin offered me this job, so I took it. Major Case is…well, interesting. My partner is, let's just say eccentric. He doesn't bother me as much as he bothered my cousin though. How old are you anyway?"
"Thirty-four. Why?"
"Thirty-four. Well, one of my life goals would not be to have four kids by that age. If I didn't know better, I'd say you left her to get away from the kids. Don't take any offense to that. I'm sure they're great. But gosh…"
"Eh, it's quiet now. Lonely, even. I don't really miss her though. She was a real bitch in divorce court. She kept saying that I was never home. Well, obviously. I work. But I get the kids on Friday nights until Sunday nights."
"Well, at least she let you see them. When my parents got divorced I was with my mom 24/7."
"So, anyway," I said, changing the subject before we'd get into her stepfather again, "standard procedure is changing your locks on your door, and I'd think it's best if someone drove you to work from now on. If it's easier, I'll drive you, since it's my job."
"We'll work something out."
Benson POV
I was going through Lucille's apartment with Eames and Cassidy to see if we could find anything. This case was awful. I knew I was going to end up kicking around the attacker when we got him. "Found a knife. Yes! There's a hair on it. It's too dark to be Lucille's." Cassidy said. A CSU bagged it and I started going through drawers.
"Well, there's nothing in here." I said, and closed the last one. "Cassidy, don't pick that up."
"Why?"
"That's probably the chloroform soaked gag he used to make her pass out. This guy wants to get caught. He left a hair, a knife and the gag."
"Stabler just called. We might have a lead. There was a guy who asked her out in college. Way back when, she used to tell me she really liked him and he knew. She was probably 10 and then her parents divorced and she got over him. He asked her out in college and she said no. He tried to hurt her but someone stopped him and he got kicked out. Name's David Bacdayan."
"Okay." I said. "You alright?"
"No." Eames sighed. "I feel like I'm taking it worse than she is."
"Well, it's probably too much for her to take in right now. She's shoving it aside because it's easier that way. It's going to end up sinking in sooner or later."
"That's what I'm afraid of. Emotionally, she isn't the most stable person."
"Which is why Stabler offered to be her therapist." I smiled. "She'll get better. Trust me. I've seen it happen many times before. She's never going to be the same, but she'll get better."
"Thanks."
"Hey, you look like you need a drink."
"God knows I do."
"We'll go out later. As of right now, let's go back to SVU. We'll pull records on David. Cassidy, call Munch about the lead."
"On it."
"There might be seminal fluid on the sheets. Can you bag them?" And a CSU did. My phone rang. "Hold on."
"Well, of course it came back positive. How's she doing?" I laughed and hung up.
"That was Stabler. The rape test came back positive. He said that Lucy just started talking to him. He said she's doing well, considering other rape victims he's seen."
"That's good." Eames said. "Let's go." She smiles weakly and I see her heal, just a little.