Olivia walks out of her room and peeks into Noah's room to find him and Lauren laying down on their stomachs, on the floor, building with leggos. In any other family a brother and sister would want anything to do with eachother, especially if they were two and ten years-old. But in this special little family, Noah and Lauren are attached to the hip when they are home together. Olivia fell in love more and more with the two little loves in her life every single time she was able to experience their bond.
Last night was a tough night for little Lauren, though. Olivia ended up falling asleep in Lauren's bed, and she was thankful that she did. She woke up with Lauren drenched in sweat, and kicking from side to side, obviously deep in a nightmare. Lauren was so disoriented from her nightmare that when Olivia woke her up from it she didn't even realize that Olivia was changing her into dry clothes.
That's when Olivia saw them. The cuts that hadn't healed up just yet, and the ones that left visible scars across her back. She understood now why Lauren was so private when it came to changing. Olivia knew that Lauren had these wounds because of the first time she seen her in the hospital. Plus, the doctor explained all that she found during Lauren's examination. But seeing them firsthand broke Olivia's heart to pieces, and angered her so much she just wanted to find these people who hurt her little girl and destroy them. She was able to coaxed Lauren back to sleep by holding her close. And when they woke up Olivia decided not to mention anything about it unless Lauren said something, but even then Olivia wasn't even sure if Lauren remembers anything.
At the hospital, Lauren is sitting on the table with Olivia standing next to her waiting for the doctor to come in. Right when they arrivied, the nurse weighed her and measured her height. Her weight is still not where it should be, but she also only been with Olivia for a few days so it was was going to take some time to get Lauren where she needed to be. Lauren was nervous, and Olivia could tell. She couldn't help but wonder how Lauren felt when she was here alone the first time she met her.
"Are the shots going to hurt?" Lauren asks, hesitantly.
Olivia brushes her fingers through Lauren's hair. Having a little girl was so different than having a boy. Though Lauren prefered simple outfits such as: leggings and a regular shirt. Olivia has been making mental reminders to herself to get more for Lauren. But being able to braid and fix Lauren's hair gave Olivia and Lauren more things to bond over, and Lauren never once complained; enjoying every bit of it.
"Lauren Porter." The doctor comes in looking at his chart. "How are we doing today?" He looks up and smiles at Lauren. Olivia feels Lauren stiffin beside her and looks curiously at her. Lauren is staring wide eyed at the doctor, and the color in her face completely drained. "And you must be-"
"Olivia Benson." Olivia says, reaching over and shaking the doctor hand.
"Dr. McGuire. Nice to meet you." He walks closer to Lauren and grabs his stethoscope. "Lauren, first I'm going to check your heart." As he reaches over to touch Lauren's chest, Lauren bolts off the table and runs out the door.
"Lauren!?" Olivia yells, looking surprised as she runs after her. Olivia catches Lauren at the end of the hall and bends down, keeping her hand on Lauren's arms so she can't run away. "Lauren, what's wrong?"
Lauren has a stream of tears flowing from her eyes, and Olivia had never seen the fearful look that Lauren is giving her right now. Not even during one of her nightmares. "Don't make me go back in there!" Lauren cries out, trying to pull away. "I'll be good! I promise! Don't let him hurt me!"
"No one is going to hurt you, sweetheart." Olivia stresses. "He's just the doctor."
Lauren shakes her head. "No! He's going to hurt me again!"
"Again!?" Olivia asks, looking confused.
"Please!"
Olivia grabs Lauren and picks her up, holding her close as Lauren cries into her shoulder, wrapping her small arms around Olivia's neck. "Okay. Okay. He won't hurt you, baby. We'll get someone else. Okay? You're safe with me. You're safe. Shh. I'll find someone else." She feels Lauren nod slowly against her neck, and she breathes out relieved that Lauren wasn't completely against the idea of doctors, but rather fearful that she was so against Dr. McGuire.
After Olivia was able to calm Lauren down, she made up an excuse explaining to Dr. McGuire that due to Lauren's past, she had issues with men. But Olivia swore she saw a small smirk escape from Dr. McGuire's lips as he listened to Olivia explain Lauren's outburst, like he knew the truth. So, a woman doctor arrived and checked Lauren's vitals, and gave her a shots in each arm as fast as possible. Lauren hadn't said a word during the whole thing and nothing on the way back to the apartment.
Olivia decided to drop Lauren off with Lucy and head to the precinct, even though she wasn't expected to be back until that Monday. But with what happened at the hospital with Dr. McGuire just couldn't wait. It was time to officially dig deep into Lauren's past and see if anything comes up.
Olivia is sitting in her office searching all that she can on her computer. When she got to the precinct she explained what happened to her fellow detectives and right away they got on the case. Fin went down to the hospital to grab all that he could from Lauren's medical records, and medical background on Dr. McGuire while Carisi searched McGuire's home and social life, and Amanda made a few phone calls to people who know McGuire. Olivia stayed in her office going through everything in Lauren's file, trying to find some sort of connection to this man.
"Lauren's medical records going back to when she was five. Dr. James McGuire started working there around that time." Fin says, walking into Olivia's office and dropping two files onto her desk.
Olivia grabs Lauren's file and begins looking through it. "She's been in and out of the hospital since she was a baby." Olivia says, sounding heartbroken, wishing she could have got to Lauren sooner. "Was McGuire her doctor through all the visits?"
"To a few of them. Every foster parent she's had brought Lauren to him when he was available."
"How is that even possible, though? None of the foster parents knew eachother."
"But they had one person in common."
In an interrogation room, Ashley, Lauren's case worker is sitting in one of the chairs when Olivia and Amanda walk in.
"So, you've been Lauren's social worker since she was five years old." Amanda states.
Ashley nods. "Yeah." She says, confused. "Once she got into school they transferred her to my age group. What is this about? Is Lauren okay?"
"She's great now." Olivia says, sarcastically.
"Then why am I here?"
Olivia slams McGuire's file down and opens it to his picture. "Dr. James McGuire. The doctor at Mercy Hospital that you were telling each foster parent to send her to. A doctor you recommended on the list to me. Why him?"
Ashley shrugs. "He's a good doctor." She says, not sounding too convincing. "After each visit with him, Dr. McGuire would confirm my suspicions on abuse in the home and I would take Lauren away. I wasn't wrong and neither was he."
"Oh, no. You weren't wrong. Lauren was being abused, but not only by her foster parents. Why Dr. McGuire specifically?" Amanda asks.
Ashley looks down, obviously not sure if she should tell the truth or not. Afraid she'd lose her job. "We've been seeing eachother off and on for years." She admits, knowing if she didn't say anything now, eventually it would come up and she'd be in deeper than she is now. "But he's a good doctor. That's why I recommended him. I don't understand what's going on."
"Were you aware of any changes in Lauren after the visits with Dr. McGuire?" Amanda asks.
Ashley shakes her head. "No. Lauren has always been quiet and to herself. Did she say something happened?"
"She didn't have to." Olivia speaks up. "This morning she went into a full panic attack when he stepped into the room."
"What? That's never happened before. I don't understand. Maybe something triggered from her past."
"Yeah. Dr. McGuire." Olivia rolls her eyes. "How well do you know this man?"
"Dr. McGuire moved here from Chicago." Carisi reads outloud as they all stand around the computer in the precinct. "But no record."
"That we know of." Fin says. "He just hasn't been caught."
"Until now." Olivia says.
"And we can't pick him up until we have something. Which means-"
"Lauren needs to talk." Olivia takes a deep breath. "Okay. For now, let's just keep digging. Maybe we missed something. I don't want to talk to Lauren until we are absolutely sure we have nothing." Everyone nods in agreement. "Let's get to work." She says, walking back to her office.
Midnight rolled around and the detectives still couldn't find anything to pin on Dr. McGuire. Olivia went through every piece of information on all of Lauren's foster parents. And that was a whole other matter that she would eventually get into with Lauren later on. But, for now, her main focus is Dr. McGuire, and unfortunately she was going to have to get something out of Lauren about him. She had no other choice.
As much as Olivia hated going home without a case being solved, she had to be there for her kids. Her life's different now. No more sleepovers at the precinct. When she got home she walked into the living room to find Lauren asleep on the couch and Lucy sitting beside her reading a book.
"Hey, Liv." Lucy smiles as she stands up.
"Hey, Lucy. How did everything go after I dropped her off?" Olivia asks, putting her bag and jacket into the closet and dropping her gun and badge into a drawer.
"She was great. It took a little while for her to warm up to me, but I set them up with some crafts and movies and she was good." Lucy tells her. "She did refuse to go to bed without you being here, but she failed and end up crashing about twenty minutes ago."
Olivia smirks and bends down in front of Lauren, rubbing her arm lovingly. "Thank you so much, Lucy."
"It's no problem. She's a great kid. She and Noah are a lot alike." Lucy laughs.
Olivia laughs. "Tell me about it."
"See you tomorrow, Liv."
"Bye, Luc." Olivia sighs while she looks at Lauren's sleeping figure. "We'll get him, sweet girl." She says, quietly.
She picks up Lauren, gently, and starts to carry her to her room. "Mommy?" Lauren says, in her sleep.
Olivia freezes. She closes her eyes and just hugs Lauren closer to her. Knowing Lauren is unaware about what she's said, but that didn't mean it still didn't warm Olivia's heart hearing it and excited to hopefully hear that word in the their future permanently. She continues walking to Lauren's room and gently places her in her bed, covering her up. "Sweet dreams, little girl." Olivia places a kiss on top of Lauren's head and walks out, leaving the door ajar.
It had only been a couple hours since Olivia came home. She was having trouble sleeping per usual and was now just laying in bed, looking up at the ceiling thinking about all that Lauren had been through and thanking God for sending Lauren her way. But the silence in the apartment didn't last too long. Olivia was expecting it, like every night since Lauren moved in, the screaming that came across the hall. Olivia jumped out of bed but before she could run out of her room, Lauren came running in first.
" 'Livia! 'Livia!" Lauren cries out. Olivia kneels down just in time for Lauren to jump into her awaiting arms.
"Lauren, it's okay. I'm here. You're safe. It was just a dream. Shh." Olivia says, rubbing the girl's back, repeatedly, trying to calm her down.
"I'll tell you everything!" Lauren cries harder.
Olivia pulls Lauren back so that she can look at her. All the times she had woken up with Lauren's nightmares, she had never seen her in this state before. Olivia could only blame Dr. McGuire. "Lauren, what are you talking about, sweetheart?"
"I don't want anymore nightmares! I'll tell you everything! Just make them go away! Please, 'Livia!"
Olivia pulls Lauren back into her arms, holding her tight. "Okay. Okay. Shh."
Olivia is surprised by the sudden outburst, at first, but then she remembers when she had told Lauren if she spoke about her nightmares then they may go away. She could only hope now that once Lauren opened up that her nightmares would go away giving Lauren the sense of trust that she needs from Olivia.
At the precinct, Olivia and the rest of the detectives, plus Dr. Huang, are standing behind the one way mirror watching Lauren. She is sitting on the couch, holding a pillow close to her chest. Since this morning Lauren has yet to say a word to anyone, only nodding to Olivia when she was asked if she was sure she was ready to talk about her nightmares.
"She's shutting down." Olivia says.
"You're obviously doing something right, Liv. She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you." Fin assures her.
"She called me Mommy last night when I brought her to bed. She was sleeping so I doubt she remembers but-"
"She remembers." Amanda interrupts with a smile.
Olivia wipes away a few stray tears and smiles at her friend. "Let me go talk to her first." She tells George before she walks into the room. "Hey, sweetheart." Olivia says, and sits down next to Lauren. "I'm going to ask you again. Are you sure you want to talk to Dr. Huang?"
Lauren nods, and looks up at Olivia. "I don't want anymore nightmares." She speaks up for the first time that day.
Olivia nods. "Okay. But I also need you to understand that this may not be the only time you have to talk about this. You might have to repeat this again and again until we get everyone that has hurt you and put them in jail."
"I want to." Lauren says after a few moments of thinking about it. "But, 'Livia, can you stay with me this time, please?"
"Are you sure?" Lauren nods. "Of course I will." Olivia puts her arm around Lauren's small frame and pulls her in slightly, planting a light kiss on top of Lauren's forehead. "My brave, brave girl." She whispers. Olivia then looks up at the one way mirror and signals Dr. Huang to come in.
It had been a good ten minutes since Dr. Huang entered the room and sat down in front of Lauren and Olivia. Lauren would scoot closer and closer to Olivia each time she spoke about a time in a different foster home. Each one had their own kind of abuse towards Lauren, but she was still affected the same way. Her only comfort was being able to hide in a closet and not be found. Most of the abuse came from the foster parents such as: taking away food, making her clean until all hours of the night, and foster dads getting what they want from a little girl that was unable to fight back. But some of the abuse did come from the foster parents real children, or some of the kids at the group homes. Lauren will forever have scars from belts and other different objects that found their way across her body, but the worst of it all came from the foster dads and...Dr. McGuire.
"Lauren, do you remember the first time you were brought to see Dr. McGuire?" Dr. Huang asks.
Olivia could feel Lauren flinch as she heard the doctor's name. "I was really little." Lauren says, thinking.
"Did a foster family bring you or did Ashley bring you?"
Lauren shakes her head. "No." She looks down at her hands, furrowing her brows. Olivia and George could practically see the wheels turning in Lauren's head by how hard she is thinking. "I wasn't with a foster family the first time I met him." Lauren remembers.
Olivia and George glance at one another. "Lauren, you remember the first time you arrived at the hospital? Before you were ever put in the system?"
Lauren looks up at Olivia. "I think so." She says, quietly.
"Lauren, are your nightmares about Dr. McGuire?" Dr. Huang asks.
"Most of them." She answers.
"Okay. Lauren, what is the first thing you ever remember about Dr. McGuire?"
Lauren begins thinking again. "He brought me there."
"To the hospital?"
Lauren nods. "I remember because he wrote my name on a piece of paper and gave it to me. Then he walked away."
"And do you remember the next time you saw him?"
"When I was with my first foster family. I broke my arm."
"And what did Dr. McGuire do to you?"
Tears begin to develop into Lauren's little green eyes as she looks at Dr. Huang and Olivia. No one has ever cared so much about her before until now. Now she has all these people, who only met her a week ago, and they all want to help her.
"He took my clothes off. He told me he had to take pictures of my arm.." Lauren looks only at Olivia. "..but he didn't. I'm sorry." Lauren starts to cry.
Olivia cups Lauren's face with her hands, and gently begins wiping the tears that are streaming down her little face. She had to ask one more question and then she knew they would be finished. "Lauren, did he touch you anywhere?"
Lauren looks down, feeling embarrassed. "Yes." She cries harder. "When he was helping me put my clothes back on. I didn't want him to! I told him no!"
Olivia quickly picks Lauren up and puts her in her lap, holding her close while she cries. "I know, sweetheart. You did so good! So good!" Olivia praises as she gently kisses the side of Lauren's head over and over again.
"Lauren, did he do this every time?" Dr. Huang asks. Lauren just nods her head, crying harder into Olivia's shoulder.
After calming Lauren down, Olivia settled Lauren on her couch in her office with a game on her cell phone while she went out into the main floor to discuss everything with her fellow detectives.
"How is it even possible for her remember what happened to her at three years-old?" Carisi asks. "I can barely remember what I ate yesterday."
"When you go through a traumatic event in your life, it's hard to forget. And, unfortunately, Lauren only has those memories. She's never known anything else." Dr. Huang answers.
"We need to find out where this guy came from and why he decided to return back to that hospital after two years of dropping Lauren off there." Amanda tells them.
"I want every medical record of every visit Lauren has had at that hospital. Reasons why she was there and all the doctors and nurses names that assisted that bastard. Then we need a search warrant. I want everything he owns searched. Also, bring Ashley back in. I have a few more questions." Olivia orders them. "But, right now, I'm taking Lauren home and I'll be back later."
Everyone nods and walks away to start on their assignments while Olivia walks back into her office to grab Lauren and bring her back home where she is safe.
"Are we going home?" Lauren asks, as soon as Olivia walks in.
"Yeah, baby." Olivia says, as she walks closer and kneels down in front of Lauren. "But first I want to tell you how proud I am of you, and thank you for trusting me enough to tell me what happened to you."
"No one has ever cared about me before." Lauren admits.
Olivia tries desperately to hold back her tears. "Well, you will never have to worry about that ever again. Okay?" Lauren nods, and wraps her arms around Olivia's neck. Olivia quickly picks her up, wrapping her own arms around Lauren and holding her close as she walks out of her office, ready to come back and take this man and everyone who has ever hurt her girl down.