Crumbling Armor
Chapter 7: Love, Laughter and Cake
"He didn't touch her," Kathy repeated to try to calm Elliot's anger. The two of them stood in the hall outside Olivia's room as they discussed what had happened while Elliot was a way.
Elliot still fumed "That son-of-a-bitch," he hissed "I'll kill him."
"She's alright," Kathy told him "Well," she amended, looking down for a moment "As alright as anyone can expect."
Elliot turned and headed towards the nurse's station "Which one is he?" he asked.
Kathy sighed and pointed him out "That one," she told him. As Elliot headed towards the young man, Kathy grabbed his arm "Just promise me one thing."
"What?" Elliot asked, spinning around to face her.
"Just try… For Olivia's sake… just try… don't end up getting arrested. She needs you right now," Kathy told him honestly. She turned back towards Olivia's room and went inside.
Olivia was making faces at Eli as he sat in his car seat on the chair. Eli was giggling infectiously and waving his tiny arms in the air back at her. Kathy walked over and picked up her youngest son "You two having fun?" she asked the bouncing baby.
Olivia sighed heavily "He started crying a little after you left. I wanted to be able to hold him."
Kathy sat down and balanced Eli on her lap "I know," she said softly. Olivia's bruised and fractured ribs plus the stab wound in her abdomen made holding a baby out of the question until she had healed. "Don't worry," she smiled softly "You'll be able to hold him soon enough."
Olivia nodded and allowed her eyes to drift closed. Soon enough would never be soon enough.
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The days dragged by and slowly turned into weeks. Olivia never saw a male nurse again after Elliot had a "chat" with the man who had tried to grope her. Elliot would stay with her most days but when he couldn't, Kathy would bring Eli and would sit with her. Slowly, Olivia and Kathy became friends.
It had been six weeks since Harris had so brutally attacked Olivia and she was developing cabin fever. It was early on a Saturday morning when Elliot rolled a wheelchair into the room "Hey," he smiled at Olivia as she rested in an upright position in her bed up in bed. The sun streamed through the windows and gave her unkempt hair the appearance of a halo.
"Hey yourself," she smiled back at him softly as she pushed the table that her breakfast tray sat on away from her "What's with the wheels?"
Elliot came closer to the bed. He moved to sit in the chair when he caught a glimpse of the breakfast tray. It looked as if it had just as much food on it as it had when he left to go retrieve the wheelchair. He pointed to the tray and looked at Olivia "You know, you really should eat something Liv."
She looked up at him and shrugged "I guess hospital food doesn't agree with me," she offered as explanation.
Elliot looked at her skeptically. She'd lost a good ten pounds since she'd been hospitalized. She looked fragile, almost like a paper doll. He had thought for weeks that it was caused entirely by her injuries but now he thought that there was more to it than that.
He sat down on the edge of the bed beside her "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. They talked about it every single night when he lay in bed beside her. But he hated himself for not picking up on this before.
"Elliot," Olivia's tone was stern though she smiled at him "I told you, the food sucks," she paused for effect and then abruptly changed the subject "So," she pointed to the wheelchair "Why'd you bring me a wheelchair?" She hadn't suffered any nerve damage, in fact, the doctor had recently told her that she would be able to walk short distances without too much pain.
"I thought you might want to go on a tour," Elliot smiled, wrapping an arm gently around her shoulders.
Olivia looked up at him questioningly "A tour?" she asked incredulously "What's there to see? Patients, doctors, nurses, halls," she rattled of the list of fairly boring things.
"I thought you might like a change of scenery," Elliot attempted to feign a pout "I was trying to do something nice."
She leaned over, carefully, and gave him a kiss "You're not good at pouting," she informed him.
"Will you come on a tour of the hospital with me anyway?" he asked, kissing her again.
"Okay," she conceded "But I'm only doing this for you," she clarified with a laugh as she allowed Elliot to help her out of bed and into the wheelchair.
"I'll try to keep that in mind," he told her as he wheeled her out of the room.
Elliot and Olivia were engaged in such a deep conversation as Elliot pushed her down the hall that Olivia didn't notice the group of people, trying to hide their faces by the elevators.
"Did you bring the balloons?" Kathy whispered to Cragen.
"They're in my car," he replied before he turned to Munch "Did you get the cake?"
"I hand bought it myself," Munch joked.
"Alright," Kathy whispered "Elliot said he could distract her for a half an hour so we have that long to set everything up," she flipped open her cell phone and hit number two on her speed dial "Mobilize the troops."
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"Yes, it's a very nice view," Olivia said with a small yawn as she stared straight ahead through one of the hospital cafeteria's windows. She was bored, just as bored as she would have been if she'd stayed in the room. She knew Elliot's heart was in the right place but she was starting to hate this little tour "Can I go back to my cell now?" she asked with a half smile.
Elliot glanced at his watch once again. He'd been doing so every few minutes and he knew that Olivia was getting suspicious about it. He looked up at her as she watched him questioningly. He had never known that soft brown eyes could pierce ones very soul the way Olivia's seemed to be doing. He felt himself shifting nervously and tried to dismiss her with a laugh "I think we've both had enough of this for today," he found the tour pretty depressing also but he had to occupy Olivia for thirty minutes.
"We've had enough…?" she repeated, letting the sentence roll past her lips, an escaped suspicion. "Why we…?" she murmured, looking up at Elliot "You didn't want to do this," she said in realization. She reached up and pulled his face down to hers "What aren't you telling me?" she asked in a low voice.
Elliot had never been more scared of her than he was at that moment. She was staring him straight in the eyes and he wanted to back away, he wanted to fall backwards, he wanted to disappear into thin air. How could he keep the party secret even long enough to get back to the room?
He glanced to the side quickly "Nothing," he murmured, trying to sound believable and failing.
"Don't lie to me," Olivia's voice was still low, still frighteningly low.
"Let's just go back," Elliot pulled away from her and began to push the wheelchair in the direction of Olivia's room.
Olivia laughed at Elliot's pure nervousness as they moved through the hallways "Are you afraid of me?" she finally asked.
Elliot stopped walking altogether "What?" he asked with a small smile on his lips.
Olivia turned her head so she could look at him "Are you afraid of me?" she repeated.
Elliot leaned in and kissed her "Only when I need to be," he assured her with a chuckle.
Olivia laughed "I hope that's not too often," she turned so that she was facing front again and they continued on their way.
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"They're coming," Lizzie stuck her head back inside the door quickly and joined the others.
The room was decorated in crate paper and balloons of all colors and everyone from Munch, Fin and Cragen to baby Eli were wearing party hats that matched the décor.
Outside, Elliot pushed Olivia ever closer to the room, hoping with every step that she wouldn't hold this against him. They reached the door and Olivia unwittingly turned the knob and pushed it open. It was pulled open the rest of the way by someone from the other side and Olivia almost gasped.
Kathy stepped forward with Eli in her arms "Surprise," she said with a soft smile.
Olivia's mouth dropped open. Around the small room stood Casey, Munch, Fin, Melinda, Cragen, and all of Elliot's children, all dressed up. She suddenly felt naked in front of a crowd and looked down at her lap. Almost instantly, Kathy spread a blanket over her friend.
"It's okay," she encouraged, placing Eli in Olivia's lap "There," she smiled "I think a baby is the perfect accessory for this party."
Olivia smiled at Kathy and wrapped her arms around the little giggling bundle "Hey there," she bent and placed a kiss on the forehead of her partner's youngest son.
Elliot pushed the wheelchair further into the room and Lizzie draped another blanket around Olivia's shoulders "I made this for you," she stated proudly "I've been working on it ever since mom told us you were in the hospital."
Olivia looked down at the royal blue fabric. It was hemmed with sparkling gold thread and was covered in embroidered letters and patterns. She would come to find out that night when she would get a chance to study the blanket closer that the embroidered letters were actually messages of love and comfort from all of her friends..
She smiled up at Lizzie "Thank you, it's beautiful."
"We brought cake," Dickie told her with a smile.
Kathy laughed and nudged her eager son "We also brought lunch," she reminded him "And we're going to eat that before we eat cake."
"Thanks but I'm not really hungry," Olivia told the assembled group.
Each and every face, even little Eli's, looked at her in concern. Kathleen stepped forward finally "But I made spaghetti and meatballs," she said with a small shrug.
Olivia looked at the crestfallen nineteen year old. How could she resist a look like that? "I guess I could eat something," she conceded.
Kathy smiled as her daughter served Olivia a heaping bowl full of pasta. She'd noticed that Olivia had lost a bit of weight and knew that she hadn't been eating all that much. She knew that Kathleen would be able to get Olivia to eat.
"Smells delicious," Olivia said as Kathleen began to serve everyone else. Eli reached his tiny hands up to grasp at the bowl but Olivia held it out of his reach "I don't think you're quite old enough for solid foods yet," she told him.
The baby simply giggled and waved his arms around, not seeming at all disappointed that he didn't get any spaghetti.
"Now can I have cake?" Dickie asked as he polished off his bowl of pasta before anyone else.
Kathy cast him an admonishing glance "Not yet," she said patiently.
Olivia was the last to finish eating, which caused Dickie to do a lot of grumbling and pacing, which caused everyone else to do a lot of laughing. Finally, Olivia finished and Kathleen collected all the empty paper bowls.
"Is everyone ready for cake?" Kathy asked with a wide smile as Dickie sank into a chair.
"Wait, I want seconds," Elliot raised his hand with an uncharacteristic exuberance that caused the room to burst into laughter.
Dickie got up and marched out of the room. "I'm going to the snack machine," the muscular teen called over his shoulder.
"The boy's suffered long enough," Munch couldn't stop laughing as he attempted to affix Elliot with a chastising stare.
"Lizzie," Kathy turned to her youngest daughter "Go get your brother, tell him Daddy was just kidding," she turned to Elliot and tried to glare at him but ended up suffering yet another fit of laughter.
Lizzie retrieved her brother and brought him back to the room. Elliot grinned at his son couldn't help but laugh. Dickie, yet again, grumbled and sank into a chair.
Munch pulled out the cake and set it down on the small rolling table so Olivia could see it. She read the frosted message on top and stared up at him in confusion "My birthday is two months away," she reminded him.
Suddenly, all eyes in the room were on Munch. He simply shrugged "It was either that or 'Bon voyage' and," he laid his hand gently on Olivia's shoulder "None of us want you going anywhere."
Olivia smiled up at him "Thanks John," she said warmly.
"Can we cut the cake now?" Dickie asked impatiently.
"Yeah," Olivia agreed with a small laugh "I think we've all waited long enough for cake."
The cake was served and quickly devoured by everyone. Olivia smiled at Eli as he tried to snatch a bit of cake off her plate. She took a small piece and popped it in his mouth when Kathy wasn't looking "Don't tell your mommy," Olivia whispered conspiratorially "You don't want me to get in trouble do you?"
Eli burbled and smiled up at her before nuzzling close to her as if to say 'It's our little secret.'
Cragen came over to Olivia's side and stood there, watching her interacting with the baby "You're a natural," he told her with a smile.
She looked up at him awkwardly "You think?" she asked.
"Yeah," he reassured her as he handed her a white box with a red ribbon around it.
"A present," Olivia smiled, almost reverting to her five year old self with the excitement she felt.
Cragen shrugged and shifted a bit nervously "I thought maybe you'd feel better if you had something more comfortable than a hospital gown to wear around here."
Olivia opened the box to reveal a set of pajamas with bears on them. She looked up at Cragen questioningly "Bears?"
"It seemed more appropriate," he shrugged again. Bears seemed to fit her personality better than ducks or flowers.
Olivia smiled "Thank you, I love them."
Cragen patted her on the shoulder "The squad room isn't the same without you," he leaned in and whispered "We all want you back soon."
Olivia nodded as Cragen stood up, gave her another pat on the shoulder and moved on to mingle with the others. She had some mixed feelings about going back to SVU but she didn't want to think about it at that moment.
"How you holding up?" Elliot asked her as he walked over to her and lifted Eli out of her lap.
"I'm fine," she smiled at him as she watched him interact with his youngest son. She laughed when Elliot slipped a small piece of cake into his son's mouth.
Elliot leaned over in her direction "Shhh," she whispered "I don't want Kathy to know."
"Uh-huh," Olivia hid her face in her hands and tried to stifle her laughter.
Fin sauntered over and smirked at the sight in front of him. He turned to Olivia and set a box in her lap "Picked you up a little somthin'," he said with a smile.
"Oh my God," Olivia exclaimed as she gently lifted the lid off the box "Was there any candy left in the store when you left?" she asked with a giggle.
Fin shrugged "Not much," he chuckled.
"Thank you," Olivia grinned at him.
Fin patted her on the shoulder "Anytime girl." Fin walked over to where Munch was standing and gave him a little nudge.
Munch shook his head but Fin nudge him again and again until he had nudged him right over to where Olivia was seated. She laughed as she watched her colleagues behave like the school children she had come to know them as "You have something for me John?" she asked with a smirk.
Munch shrugged "Hey, I brought the cake," he protested but at that same moment a box appeared in his hand.
Olivia snatched it from him with childlike enthusiasm and opened it. She began to laugh so hard that everyone's attention in the room turned to her "You bought me a Game Boy?" she tried to speak but found it difficult.
"Not just a Game Boy," Munch defended "It's a Game Boy Color."
"Where did you buy her a piece of 1995 technology?" Fin elbowed Munch in the ribs.
"He didn't buy it," Dickie was quick to rat out his dear old Uncle Munch "He found it in our attic."
Munch glared at Dickie "It's the thought that counts," he offered meekly.
"Oh really," Olivia held up the device "Could you explain to me what the thought was behind this?"
"I thought it might help you with the hospital blues," Munch said with a shrug.
"Thank you," Olivia smiled graciously "I'll think of you every time I use it."
"Which'll be never," Fin whispered in Munch's ear.
Munch ignored him and gestured to the box "There's even a few of games. See," he reached in and pulled out the cartridges "You've got your Super Stereotypic Italian Siblings," everyone burst into laughter "And you've got The Hypnotic Falling Blocks better known as Tetris."
"Thank you," Olivia smiled up at him.
"Just make sure you turn the sound off when you play the hypnotic falling blocks," Munch warned her "It's a well known fact that that song is designed to make you do the bidding of the game's creators."
Fin elbowed him in the ribs again "Come on," he said as he pulled Munch away from Olivia.
Kathy came over and took Eli from Elliot's arms "You should go talk to Dickie," she suggested "He's been making eyes at Casey since he finished eating his cake. You'd better make sure he doesn't devour her next," she laughed.
Elliot groaned and got up, walking over to Dickie and leaning against the wall beside his son.
Kathy took the seat Elliot had been occupying earlier "Are you having a good time?" she asked Olivia.
"I can honestly say it's the most fun I've had in weeks," Olivia replied with a small grin.
"The bar's not set very high there," Kathy chuckled as she unfolded a napkin "Look what Mommy saved for you," she smiled as she held out a little piece of cake and popped it into Eli's mouth.
Olivia laughed "Did you just do what I think you just did?" she asked.
"Yep," Kathy smiled "Just like you and Elliot did."
Olivia's mouth dropped open "How…?"
"It's the special 'Mommy power'," Kathy smiled "You'll find out soon I'm sure." She patted her friend's knee "You aren't too tired or anything?" she asked, concerned.
"I'm fine," Olivia told her.
"Oh…" Kathy grinned "I've been warned not to trust you when you say that."
Olivia couldn't help laughing "Who told you that?" she asked incredulously.
Kathy grinned and pointed each person out "Don told me that you hide your pain well, Casey told me that I have to ask you questions repeatedly and not take 'I'm fine' for an answer, Melinda basically told me the same thing and John…" she paused and his her face as she giggled "He told me not to trust you as far as I could throw you."
Olivia laughed "I think this Game Boy's gonna find it's way back to him in a very personal way."
Kathy bounced Eli in her lap "Please," she tried to sound serious "Don't talk like that around my son."
"Okay, okay," Olivia surrendered "I'll behave."
"I doubt that," Elliot walked back over and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her softly "But you're welcome to try."
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Olivia lasted another forty five minutes before Kathy finally told everyone to go home. It was becoming all too clear that Olivia was exhausted. Everyone promised to visit as soon as they could and Munch promised to get her a much better present for her actual birthday.
Olivia had managed, with a little help from Kathy, to change into her knew pajamas and she was currently relaxing in a semi reclined position in the bed.
Elliot walked over and sat down in the chair beside her "Those pajamas suite you," he smiled.
"Thanks," she tried to stifle a yawn as she pulled the blanket Lizzie had made her up to her chin.
Kathy walked out of the bathroom after changing Eli's diaper "I'd better get going," she said, passing Eli to Elliot so he could say goodbye "Maureen says that the twins are being 'insufferable'. I'd better get home before they all kill each other," she laughed.
Elliot handed Eli back to Kathy who promptly handed him to Olivia so that she could say goodbye as well. Olivia took him in her arms and smiled down at the little boy "I'll see you soon," she said, kissing the top of his head gently.
"Wave bye-bye," Kathy cooed to her son as she strapped him into his car seat "See you tomorrow," she said as she left the room.
Olivia yawned and turned to Elliot "I don't know if you heard, what with all the excitement today," she smiled "But the doctor told me that I could get out of here sometime next week."
"That's great," Elliot said as he moved onto the bed beside her and wrapped his arm around her.
"Yeah," Olivia agreed "I was wondering, you know, I don't want things to move too fast or anything… but… would you mind…"
"Liv," Elliot said, prodding her gently "What are you trying to say?"
"Would you mind, staying with me for a while?" she asked.
Elliot gave her a gentle kiss "I wouldn't mind at all," he smiled.
Olivia pulled the blanket up close around both of them. Something in the corner of the blanket caught her eye. She focused on the embroidered words; they read "Beauty, Strength, Courage, Olivia; all my love, Elliot."
"El…?" she turned back to him and showed him the corner of the blanket.
He blushed "Lizzie had each of us say something. She embroidered everyone else's message but I did that one myself," he said proudly.
She smiled and traced the words with her finger. She nuzzled close to him "I love you," she whispered.
He wrapped both arms around her "I love you too," he told her as he held her close. Soon after that, they both drifted off to sleep.
