LOCISVU- Thank you for reviewing every time, I really appreciate it. This is for you.

I haven't stopped writing this story because I can see from the story traffic that a lot of you are still reading this story. I have my loyal readers out there and I really appreciate it. I really really would appreciate your reviews. Just please, mind your manners. You can provide constructive criticism without the need to be rude. Thank you. This is going to be a long chapter.

Oh….When did Dr. Huang become gay???

Elliot sat in the chair on the other side of Casey's bed watching Olivia sleep in the recliner. He had placed a blanket over her and noticed that she held on tightly to Casey's right hand. The two had become inseparable over the past few years. They were like sisters. They could finish each other's thoughts, knew what each other was feeling without using words. Elliot moved his chair closer to Casey's bed and ran his hand over her head. She looked so peaceful, so innocent. He picked up her left hand and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. "Casey, I know you're still with us. You are too damn stubborn to do anything you didn't want to do and I know that you don't want to die. You have a family here, Casey. You, Olivia, me, Cragen, Fin and Munch, we're your family. We all need you to pull through. I need you to pull through. I watched you grow into the most beautiful, intelligent, confident woman you are today. You're kind and caring. You have to admit counselor, sometimes your witty comments are a little over the top but I find them amusing. Can you feel Olivia's hand? She's finally asleep. We love you, Casey.' Elliot stood up and bent down so he could whisper into Casey's ear. "I love you, Casey Novak."

Elliot heard a soft knock on the door before it opened slowly. Munch poked his head in and saw Olivia asleep by Casey's bedside. Munch nodded at Elliot before closing the door behind him. Elliot got up from his chair and stepped outside of Casey's room to find Munch, Alexis and two agents talking down the hall. Alexis looked up and saw Elliot walking towards them. She said something to the two agents and they walked over to the entrance of Casey's room. She had sent them there to protect Casey.

"How is she doing?' Munch asked as when joined them.

Elliot ran his hand through his hair. He honestly didn't know what to say. "She's still in a coma. The doctors don't know when she is going to wake up."

Alexis crossed her arms. "Is she's breathing on her own?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah."

"That's a good sign." Alexis said softly. "Jonathon and his gang are under protective custody in federal prison. We want to make sure they survive through their trial."

"What's with the armed guards?" Elliot asked. He knew it was for Casey's and Olivia's protection.

"U.S. Marshals, just until Casey recovers. I don't want to take any chances." Alexis explained to Elliot. She really didn't want to take any chances that Jonathon was going to try and tie up some loose ends. Even though Casey and Olivia didn't see him, they were still his victims. "The Assistant U.S. Attorney went over Olivia's statement and ruled it as justifiable homicide."

Munch saw the worry in Elliot's eyes. His eyes were puffy and red. "Elliot, Casey will pull through. She's strong."

All Elliot could do was nod.

"Casey."

She heard a whisper in her ear.

"Casey, open your eyes."

She heard the voice once more. Her eyes lids felt like they were glued shut. She tried to open them but couldn't.

"Casey, relax. Take a deep breath and open your eyes."

Casey took a deep breath and smelled the sweet smell of gardenias.

"You can do it."

Casey slowly opened her eyes, blinking several times, trying to focus her vision. She focused on the figure standing at the end of her bed. Her vision cleared and immediately recognized the woman standing at the end of her bed.

"Jade." Casey whispered.

"Welcome back, Casey." Jade said with a smile and she slowly faded away.

Casey felt a tear fall down her check as the vision of her friend began to fade. The smell of gardenias still lingered in the room. She tried to move her hand but felt something holding it down. She turned her head and saw Olivia sleeping next to her bed. Casey felt her eyes begin to close but heard someone call her name. She opened her eyes and saw Olivia smiling back at her. "You're awake." Olivia said with a smile. Olivia placed her hand on Casey's check.

Casey smiled. "Liv, do you smell that? Gardenias."

Olivia stood up and couldn't help but laugh. She was crying, they weren't sad tears, they were happy tears. Casey was awake. She nodded in response to Casey's question. She smelled it too but didn't know the source. There were no flowers in the room but that was the least of her worries. Her best friend who had just woken up from a coma and she was going to live.

Olivia turned off the stove causing the loud sound from the kettle to disappear. She poured the hot water into the two mugs that she had placed on the counter. Sheput the kettle back down and grabbed a jar of honey from the pantry. Two tablespoons of honey in one cup and one tablespoon in the other. She picked up both cups and slowly carried them to the living room. She looked down at the sleeping form on the sofa and smiled. A month had passed since Casey's release from the hospital. Her gun shot wound had healed but the doctors still wanted her to get lots of rest. They said she would be able to return to work next month. Casey was on several medications. Some for pain and some to help her sleep. There were some nights when Casey slept peacefully and others she would wave up terrified. Although Olivia didn't want to admit it, she too had nightmares at times. However, Olivia's dream was the same every night, it was always of Casey dieing in her arms. Olivia placed Casey's cup down on the coffee table and sat down at the end of Casey's feet with her. Casey looked so peaceful when she was asleep, she didn't want to wake her.

Casey stood at her apartment window looking at the night sky. The moon was full and beautiful. Olivia and Elliot had been a bi distant since her release from the hospital. She didn't quiet understand why. Although Elliot and Olivia spent almost every night at her apartment, they each kept their distance. Elliot kept his distance from Olivia as well. She frowned and rubbed her neck,

"What's the matter, Casey?"

Casey turned around to see Jade sitting on her sofa. Casey walked over to Jade and took a seat next to her. "Olivia and Elliot have been so distant since I was released."

"Did you ask them why?" Jade asked. She already knew the answer but wanted Casey to figure it out on her own.

"No." Casey said with a sigh. It wasn't that she didn't want to know what was bothering her friends, she was just afraid of their answers.

"I'm sure you already know the answer." Jade said softly.

"Jade, can I ask you something?" Casey asked as she turned to face Jade on the sofa. Jade nodded and Casey took at as her queue. "Why are you always in my dreams when something is wrong?"

Jade was taken back by the question. "Do you not want me here?"

Casey realized how her question sounded and immediately apologized. "No, I'm sorry. It's just, am I really talking to you or is this just a dream?"

Jade ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath. "Your subconscious is trying to solve the issues you are facing in your life, so it brought me forward seeing that I am someone you are more than likely willing to open up to."

Casey smiled at her friend's slight humor. "Nice answer Dr. Chan."

Jade smiled. "Now tell me, why you think Elliot and Olivia are being so distant with you."

Casey took a deep breath and folded her feet underneath her. She already knew that answer to Jade's question about Olivia but not to the one about Elliot. "I almost died in Olivia's arms. Sometimes when she spends the night, I hear her crying in her sleep. She never wants to talk about when I ask her." Casey bit her lip and that when it hit her. "Oh my God, Olivia's nightmares are of me."

Jade nodded. "And in her dreams…"

"…I die." Casey finished the sentence for her. She felt her eyes begin to water. "And Elliot?"

Jade looked at Casey and sighed. "Its not my place to tell you why. Ask him tonight."

"I smell tea." Casey said with a smile.

"Goodbye, Casey."

Olivia felt Casey stir next to her and looked down to see the ADA's eyes settling on her. "Good evening. You sleep okay?"

Casey took a deep breath and smiled at the sweet sent of gardenias and lingered around her. Casey slowly sat up and rest her back against the armrest of the sofa. She winced at a small jolt of pain rushed down her back. She saw the concerned look at Olivia's face as she was going to hand her her cup of tea. "I'm okay." She took to the cup from Olivia and took a slow sip. "Thank you."

"Casey, can I ask you something?" Casey nodded. "Whenever you sleep peacefully, you always wake up and smile." Olivia smirked. "May I ask what has you smiling, counselor?"

Casey took a deep breath and looked down at her cup of tea that she was holding in her hands. She never told anyone about her past. Olivia was her best friend yet she never confided in her about Jade. "When I was in law school, I lost my best friend. Her name was Jade. She had been sick for a while. She um suffered from peptic ulcers in her stomach." Casey paused. She felt Olivia's hand on her and she felt tears begin to stream down her cheek. "One night after we got done studying, she past out in my arms. The doctors said that they couldn't stop the bleeding." Casey felt the cup she was holding lift from her hand. She looked up in time to see Olivia pulling her into a hug. She held her as she cried.

Olivia felt tears in her own eyes. Casey had opened up to her about her ex-fiancé's death but she could see that this hurt her more. She ran her hand over Casey's head and tried to sooth Casey's cries. Several minutes past and Casey's cries stopped. Casey pulled away from Olivia. She wiped her tears from her cheek. "Do you believe in guardian angels?"

Olivia tilted her head to the side and kept her eyes focused on Casey. She thought about it for a moment. She never really asked herself that question. Although growing up with a drunk mother, her child hood friend's mother always told her that her guardian angel was always watching over her. "Yes."

Casey sighed in relief. "When I was in a coma, Jade was in my dream state with me. We talked, she told me she never left me and that she is my guardian angel. When I don't have nightmares about Zack and what he could have done to you, I see her and we just talk." Casey wiped her tear stained cheek. "When she was alive, her favorite flower was gardenias. I always smell them after I dream of her. When I woke up at the hospital, I smelled gardenias as I saw her figure fade from the room. She was there, as real as you and I" She looked at Olivia. "Do you thin I'm crazy?"

Olivia shock her head. She honestly didn't think Casey was crazy. After all, she did smell gardenias in the room just after Casey woke up. "No honey. I don't think you're crazy."

"Olivia, tell me why you cry in your sleep." Casey said softly. She caught Olivia by surprise. Olivia didn't say anything for several minutes. "Liv?"

"When you got shot, Zack told me that the bullet was meant for me. Not you. Casey, if I had been paying attention, if I didn't let my guard down, I would have seen him coming. I could have stopped him from shooting." Olivia felt her own tears now streaming down from her cheek. "When held you in my arms, and you wouldn't wake up. I feared you had died. That you died in my arms. And when I go to sleep at night, that scene replays in my mind over and over again except that in my dream, you die."

Casey and Olivia both hugged each other. They cried together. They both blamed themselves for what happened but they soon came to realize that they were not the ones to be blamed, Zack was. He was the one that sent men to hunt them, he was the one who kidnapped them and tried to hill them. Casey pulled away from Olivia and looked her straight in the eye. "Liv, you're my best friend, my sister, my family. I would take a bullet for you any day."

I made a fan page for Diane Neal on facebook for anyone who would like to become a fan, the link is in my profile. :) I will keep it up to date.I