A/N: Ok so I promised you guys another update tonight so here it is!!!

Disclaimer: Damn you Dick Wolf, Sherman Williams, and Peter Hermann.

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As Olivia followed the nurse down the busy hallway she bit her nails, anxious to see Elliot. Despite the situation she smiled and the nurse's previous mistake of thinking she is Elliot's wife. 'Well you didn't exactly correct her. Hmmm wonder why?' Olivia let out a small laugh at her sarcastic comments to herself. The nurse turned and gave her a strange look as she pointed to a door a few steps away.

Olivia grabbed the handle but stopped herself before turning it. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before walking into Elliot Stabler's hospital room. There was a nurse standing over him, adjusting his pillows and sheets, and also blocking his face. As the nurse moved her arm Olivia got a glimpse of Elliot's face; it was practically all black and blue. His nose and top lip were both swollen and bruised. The nurse turned towards her and smiled, then hurried out of the room. 'I just want to run to him, grab him in my arms, and tell him how much I lo….care about him.' But despite her thoughts, she stood, rooted to the floor beside the door.

He opened his eyes and cleared his throat as he saw her. "Liv, come here." His voice was still groggy.

Olivia slowly walked towards the bed, and took the hand he held out. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, especially now that you're here." He smiled and patted the bed beside him.

She hesitated for a second, and then sat down on the bed. "So you're not in much pain?"

He shook his head and brought a hand to his nose. "Well my nose hurts like hell, but I've broken it before so no big deal. Doc said he'll probably release me in a couple of hours."

"What about your concussion?" She absentmindedly traced circles along his arm with her fingers as his hand rested on her thigh.

He smiled at this and replied, "They said it isn't even serious enough to be considered a full blown concussion. Doc said I have a hard head."

"Yeah, I could have told you that. So you're not hurting too much?"

"Nah, I've hurt worse." He kept smiling at her show of concern for him.

She punched him on the shoulder and in the stomach. As he raised his hands in defense she pulled his fingers back until he yelled for mercy.

"Ouch! Liv! What the hell was that for?"

She smiled, happy to finally do everything she had wanted to do since she found him, well almost everything. "That's for you being a dumbass and slipping on the freaking water in my damn kitchen!"

The look on his face made her laugh, and even snort, which made him even more shocked.

"I'm laying here, almost dying, and you hit me and fuss at me for getting hurt in YOUR apartment? I should sue you!" He tried to keep a serious face but couldn't help but laugh as Olivia rolled her eyes.

"You can try buddy, but I'll go ahead and tell ya, it ain't going to be worth it."

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" He smiled as she brought her hand to his face and gently rubbed her hand over the bruises on his face.

"Because, if you sue me," she moved her hand to his cheek, "I won't be your friend anymore."

"Oh no. I wouldn't want that." They smiled at each other and laughed.

Staring at her partner lying in the hospital bed, Liv suddenly became overwhelmed and fought to keep tears from forming.

"Liv? Are you okay?" As he spoke she could no longer keep the tears at bay and allowed them to fall. "Hey Liv don't cry. Come here baby." He pulled her to his chest and threaded his hand through her hair. "Shh, please don't cry. I'm okay Liv."

She wiped the tears away but stayed pressed against his chest. "I know El. And I've never been this openly upset before when you've gotten hurt, I guess I just feel like it's partly my fault since it was my apartment and my leak…"

Her voice trailed off as he took her face in his hands, bringing her face inches from his and forced her to look him square in the eye. "Liv, it is not your fault. It's my fault for being a dumbass and trying to scare you by running to hide in the kitchen. So don't you dare say anything like that again, do you hear me?"

She nodded and bit her lip as she forced herself not to do the one thing she had wanted to do for 9 years. But before she could react, Elliot brought their faces closer together and did it for her. Within seconds Elliot's lips were brushing against hers and she immediately responded, bringing her other hand up to cup his face. After a few minutes she reluctantly pulled away and looked into his eyes, scared to death of what he was going to say.

"Liv, I…wow. I'm sorry, I just…"

"Shh." Olivia put a finger to his lips to silence him and then replaced it with her lips.

Outside the room Kathy looked through the window with a sort of sad smile on her face.

"I'm sorry Kathy, I didn't realize..." She cut Don Cragen off with a wave of her hand.

"Don't even worry about it. Elliot and I are officially divorced. I knew it wouldn't be long before they figured out that they were in love with each other. I'm actually kind of happy that he has Olivia. She is going to be great for him, she already is, and has been for nine years." Kathy smiled at Cragen and shrugged her shoulders, "I guess you really can't stop destiny. Now, how about you interrupt them instead of me?"

The older man chuckled and said, "My pleasure." He slowly opened the door, and when neither looked up from their long awaited kiss, he tip-toed over to the bed and stuck his face right next to theirs. "Boo!"

Both of the detectives backed away and cast him startled looks. "Holy shit Cap'n; you don't scare a man in the hospital like that!"

"Yeah, this poor man is injured. Why scare him like that?" Olivia smiled, not nearly as upset about being caught by their boss. But as Olivia looked toward the door her smiled faltered as she noticed Kathy standing in the doorway.

"Kathy!" Apparently Elliot had noticed her about the same time as Olivia had.

"Hey El. How ya feeling?" She walked around to the other side of the bed and smiled at both he and Olivia.

"Pretty good, just a little sore." Elliot's voice dripped with nervousness as he looked Kathy in the eye.

"Not too sore to make out with Olivia." Although her words seemed harsh, Olivia and Elliot could both tell by her tone and the look on her face that she was struggling not to laugh.

Neither detectives said anything, they just hung their head and Elliot grinned sheepishly.

"Well Elliot, now that I know you're okay, I'm gonna head back to the station. You two are off call, and since it is Thursday, I don't want to see either of your faces until Monday." The captain walked towards the open door and nodded at a nurse who poked her head in to check on Elliot.

"Both of us? Why Cap'n?" Olivia frowned, thinking that Cragen was more upset about what he had seen that she originally thought.

"Because," He grinned and winked at Kathy, "I think he's going to need someone to take care of him." With that he shut the door and walked down the hallway.

"Okay Elliot, I'll leave you two alone now. I just had to come check on you so I could tell the kids that I saw in person that you're okay." She smiled and walked around the bed so that she was stand right beside Elliot and Olivia.

"Well they can see for themselves tonight. The doc said he's gonna let me go in a few hours and since it's only two or so I'll probably still make it to dinner."

Kathy opened her mouth to argue, but stopped herself because she knew Elliot well enough to know that he was not going to change his mind. Instead she smiled and turned to speak to Olivia, "You're still coming too I hope? Maureen is home from school and she's excited about seeing both of you, but more so Olivia."

Olivia and Kathy both smiled at Elliot's hurt expression. "Of course, I'll be there. Six-thirty, right?"

Kathy nodded as she heading for the door. "Yup. I guess I'll see you then." As she opened the door and stepped out into the hallway she turned and spoke before shutting the door, "I'm glad you guys finally stopped being so ignorant." She flashed them a grin and then she was gone.

Olivia stared at the closed door for a minute and then stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Well I'll be damned." She looked at Elliot only to find him laughing silently. "Did you have any idea that she was so ok with this?"

"Well, when she gave me the divorce papers she told me to tell you."

Olivia was just about to ask him what when Elliot's doctor walked in with a nurse in tow.

"Hey doc. How's it lookin?" Elliot leaned forward to shake the older man's hand as Olivia slipped out of the way to sit in a chair.

"Well Mr. Stabler, everything looks good so I went ahead and got the discharge papers ready. All you need to do is sign them and then you can leave." The grey-headed man looked up from his charts and smiled at him.

"Wow, thanks so much. I really appreciate everything you've done." Elliot winced as the nurse took the no longer needed IV out of his arm.

"No problem. Now if you'll excuse me I have to run." The doctor smiled and nodded towards Olivia as he quickly left the room.

"Okay Mr. Stabler, everything's unhooked so you can get dressed now. The discharge papers are waiting out at the nurse's station. Either you or your wife may sign them, it doesn't matter. I hope you feel better." And with that the nurse disappeared behind the door she shut behind her.

Elliot raised his eyebrows and smirked as he saw Olivia blush. "Wife?"

"Hey, she assumed so I wasn't going to correct her, or I wouldn't have been able to come back here. You shouldn't have been mumbling Olivia baby in the first place." It was her turn to smirk as red crept up Elliot's neck and into his face.

"Can you hand me my clothes so I can get out of this stupid peepshow gown?"

She laughed as he attempted to stand and hold his gown together at the same time. "Having a hard time Stabler?" She laughed as he snatched his clothes from her hand.

He shrugged off the hospital gown to reveal his almost naked body, his most private parts covered with bright blue boxers. He smirked as he saw her eyes traveling all over his body with her mouth slightly open. "Having a hard time Benson?"

She snapped her head up and threw his socks at him. "Shut up. I'm going to sign your name on those papers." With that she hastily opened the door and after slipping out, she shut it behind her.

As Olivia walked toward the nurse's station she took a deep breath and told herself to calm down. 'He had boxers on. No biggie. Well, actually yes biggie.' She grinned at her personal innuendo and asked the nurse for Elliot Stabler's papers.

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Okay yall… I know this chapter is a little shorter but I just wanted to go ahead and post the rest of the hospital scene tonight. I also have a question for you guys…. Do you like it when I post the shorter chapters more frequently or would you like it better if I made the chapters longer and updated once or twice a week? Let me know!