I own no one but my own people

October 17th, 9:52 PM, En route to St Michaels Hospital

"How much longer?" Olivia asked the paramedic who was doing all he could to stop the massive amount of flowing blood that was pouring out of Alex who clutched her hand as tight as she could, her sobs almost echoing in the back of the ambulance along with the sirens.

"About three minutes," he informed her as he threw the now soaked wad of gauze to the floor and the other medic readily handed him another wad to replace it with.

"Olivia, I'm scared!" Alex sobbed as she clutched her hand harder and putting a hand on her stomach letting out a low groan of pain.

"There's nothing to be scared of, baby, I'm right here," Olivia told her as she held Alex's hand tighter, forcing her own sobs to remain at bay. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Alex let out more sobs and shook her head. "No it's not!"

Olivia shook her head as tears rolled down her face. "Yes it is. I won't let anything happen to either of you." Olivia pushed back Alex's hair that had fallen in her face. "I love you so much, Alex."

Alex let out a scream of pain as a fresh wave of pain crashed into her and a sob escaped Olivia. "Hold on, Alex, just hold on! Can't you go any faster!" she screamed at the paramedic who was holding the gauze tight in between Alex's legs, knowing in her heart he couldn't do anything about the speed of the ambulance but it gave her a miniscule sense of relief to be able to take her frustrations of feeling helpless out on somebody.

"We're going as fast as we can, mam," the paramedic replied calmly, having been on the job too long to have frantic worried companions shout at him bother him any.

Alex's pain filled sobs continued before she spoke, saying the one thing Olivia never expected to hear from her, especially in a crisis. "I want my mom!"

Olivia opened her mouth before she closed it in confusion, unsure of what the right response would be for that.

She finally said the one thing that she had been repeating since Alex had collapsed; a frantic plea for both women to believe. "Everything's gonna be alright."

Olivia watched as Alex shook her head. "I need to see her! I ne- need to tell her I'm sorry!"

"You will, baby, and you wanna know why? Because she is going to come to the hospital to visit you and our daughter when you're both completely healthy and you'll both be able to apologize."

"Yo- you have to get her! Olivia, promise me you'll get her! I need to tell her I'm sorry and good bye!"

"No!" Olivia screamed frantically as she ran the shaking hand that wasn't holding Alex's through her hair. "You are not saying good bye! You do not need to say goodbye to anyone! Oh god, Alex, just hang on for me please!"

"Promise me!"

Olivia bit her lip for a moment before she nodded. "I promise."

Suddenly the ambulance slowed down its speed considerably before coming to a complete stop.

Before Olivia could even open her mouth to inform Alex they had arrived at the hospital the two doors opened and the paramedics along with two doctors rolled the stretcher out of the back of the ambulance and lifted it onto the ground.

"Olivia!" Alex shrieked in fright as their hands momentarily released one another.

Olivia jumped down from the back and ran up to her, taking a tight hold of her hand. "I'm right here, Alex," she told her as she nearly ran to keep up with the stretcher forcing herself to look into her eyes instead of the massive dark red stain that seemed to cover her entire lower half of her body.

"How far along is she?" the doctor that was on the left front side of the stretcher asked Olivia not even glancing around to look at her.

"8 and a half months," Olivia informed him.

"Has she done any drugs or drank at all during her pregnancy?" the same doctor asked in a rushed tone.

"No!" shouted Olivia in anger looking away from Alex's face to glare at the doctor. "She did nothing to cause this!"

The doctor gave a curt nod before they slammed through two double doors, one of the nurses turning around and putting her arm out to abruptly stop Olivia.

"I'm sorry, mam; you'll need to stay out here."

"She's my wife!" Olivia yelled as she tried to get around the nurse.

The nurse blocked her again. "You still have to wait in the waiting room, and yes, we'd be doing that to a husband as well so it is not a PC issue so please don't try to act like it is," she added with a bit of an offended attitude as if Olivia had mentioned it.

"I could give two shits rather your policy is politically correct or not! I want to be in there with my wife and daughter!"

"She's going into surgery, you need to stay here, I'm sorry and if you don't back away from me I'm going to call security."

Olivia gave her a furious glare but none the less took a step back from the nurse.

Without another word the nurse closed the doors and rushed off to what Olivia presumed help Alex leaving the brunette alone in the abandoned hallway.

October 17th, 10:37 PM, St Michaels Hospital waiting room

"You have reached the cellular phone or mobile if you are from Europe of one Lillian Verona Cabot, wife of the honorable Maximus Thompson Cabot the third retired. At this precise moment in time I am not able to answer your telephone call so please feel free to leave me a voice message after the tone and I will tend to your affairs in due time. BEEP!"

Olivia groaned in frustration as she hung up her cell phone after calling Lila's phone for what felt like the hundredth time dialing the number by hand once more right after she pressed the red button that ended the call, needing something to distract her from the fact it had been over half an hour and so far not a single person had come out and give her a status on either Alex or their daughter.

She had called both Elliot who promised to be there the moment after he had arraigned Robert and Simon who said he would try to find someone to cover for him at the Pharmacy.

Olivia listened to the daunting message once more before she hung up again and let out a frustrated cry, tears welling in her eyes. Alex and their baby, the two people who meant more than life itself to Olivia were in trouble and there was not a damn thing she could do about it. She would give anything to trade places with both her wife and child right now or to at least know if they were still alive.

Olivia wiped frantically at the tears, not allowing any other waiting room participants to see her so weak and vulnerable when she saw Elizabeth Shay, the same doctor who had treated Alex yesterday, walk into the waiting room.

Elizabeth glanced around for a moment before her nervous gray eyes landed on Olivia and she walked over to her.

Olivia stood up in a flash, knocking down a three year old edition of 'Time' from the other chair's arm rest.

"What's happening?" Olivia asked before Elizabeth could open her mouth. "How's Alex? How's our baby?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Benson, but it doesn't look good for either of them," Elizabeth told her.

Olivia bit her bottom lip and ran a shaking hand through her hair once more, willing herself not to cry in front of this woman. "Wha- what's wrong with them?"

"Alex is hemorrhaging and her blood isn't clotting like it should," Elizabeth explained. "If the baby were to be delivered now, there's a strong possibility that Alex could bleed out and die. But the baby is in distress and if Alex doesn't deliver within the next hour there's a good chance the baby could die."

Olivia clutched the arm chair in a desperate attempt not to fall to the ground, biting her tongue so that the scream she so wanted to release didn't leave her throat.

After several moments of hearing both her wife and child were in life threatening peril she willed herself to speak. "So… so what are you going to do?"

"I'm sorry but you're the one who needs to make that choice, Mrs. Benson," Elizabeth told her apologetically. "You're Alex's power of attorney and you're listed as next of kin."

Olivia shook her head. "I can't make that choice."

"You're going to have to otherwise both of them are dead."

She began to take deep frantic breaths and shook her head once more. "I can't do it. You're the doctor, why can't you choose?"

"Because you're her power of attorney. I truly am sorry but I can't make the choice for you, Mrs. Benson, you're going to have to. You have a little under an hour before we need a definite decision. We'll try to get Alex's blood to clot in the meantime and if it does we'll perform an emergency C-section but you need to be prepared to make the choice. I'm sorry."

With an apologetic smile Elizabeth began to walk away.

Olivia covered her mouth for a moment in a failed attempt to hide the fact she had begun crying when she ran up to her, pulling a pen out of her purse. "Dr. Shay!"

Elizabeth turned around and before she could speak Olivia grabbed her hand and uncapped the pen, trying to make her own hand as steady as she could.

"If anything changes, call me," Olivia ordered as she wrote down her cell number on Elizabeth's palm.

"Where are you going?" Elizabeth asked somewhat astounded that Olivia would leave the hospital at a time like this.

"To keep a promise!" Olivia shouted back as she dialed a familiar number and held the phone up to her ear.

After two rings a bored voice answered. "Sergeant John Munch, Manhattan SVU."

"I need all recent transactions on every credit and debit card purchases Lillian Verona Cabot born on April 4th, 1940 and Maximus Thompson Cabot the third born August 25th 1938 who live at 318 Gold Gates road in Albany," Olivia demanded as she ran out to the parking lot and looked around running up to the first person she saw, a red headed girl who couldn't have been more then seventeen getting out of a flashy looking sports car and showing the girl her badge.

"Police business, I need your vehicle!" Olivia demanded as she got into the driver's side of the car and snatched the keys from the girl's hand.

"What the hell are you doing?" the girl screeched loudly but Olivia had already put the key in the ignition and put it in drive, driving away with so much as a backwards glance going as fast as the car's engine could handle.

"Why do you need the credit reports of your in laws?" Munch asked in confusion.

"Just do it!" Olivia shouted both in frustration and anger as she put it on speakerphone and put the phone down on the seat beside her, silently willing the car that was already going 90 to go faster.

"Alright, alright, hang on a second," muttered Munch softly.

Olivia heard the click of keys on the lab top and all but held her breath, hoping she was right about Lila for once in her life knowing that if she didn't do what Olivia predicted her to do, there was no way she would be able to face Alex again.

"Got it," he told her, "now what exactly did you need?"

"I need to know if they checked out any hotels in Manhattan for one night," she told him, knowing how much Lila hated driving at night in or out of the city.

There was a moment of silence before Munch spoke again. "A single suite at the Manhattan Waldorf Astoria, they haven't paid yet but the cards on file.

Olivia didn't even bother on the common courtesy of 'goodbye' and instead simply hung up on him with only one thought on her mind as she stepped on the gas even harder than before.

"Please let them be alright."

Twenty minutes later Olivia parked in front of the building and got out and rushed into the majestic hotel, not even bothering to turn off the car or even shut the door.

She ran up to the young smiling receptionist and flashed her badge, ignoring the angry mutterings of the people who were standing in line.

"I need Max and Lila Cabot's room number now, it's an emergency," said Olivia as she interrupted a middle aged couple flashing her badge at the somewhat confused worker.

"Excuse me," the older woman scuffed. "But we were talking to her first. Now I suggest you wait your turn like everybody else."

"Lady, shut the fuck up!" Olivia snarled before turning back to the receptionist. "Room number! Max and Lila Cabot! Now!"

The receptionist looked at her for a few moments in astonishment before she cleared her throat and nodded. "Right away, officer."

Olivia waited impatiently as the receptionist hastily typed in several things before she stopped. "They're sating in room 527, fifth floor."

Without so much as a thank you; Olivia ran as fast as she ever had in her life to the elevator pressing the button several times before it finally opened.

She rushed inside and pressed the number three looking at her cell phone to make sure she could still get service, biting her lip in anticipation as she watched the numbers climb before it finally reached her destination.

She all but jumped out of the elevator and looked up at the room number signs before she ran down the corroder, her heart beating hard against her chest.

When she finally came to stop at Lila and Max's room she took only a moment to catch her breath before she pounded on the door.

"Lila!" she shouted loudly. "Lila, open up, it's Olivia!"

She continued to pound for several more seconds before the sounds of a sliding lock chain reached her ears and the door was wrenched open.

"What in god's name are you doing?" Lila asked, her voice almost a high squeal of anger and astonishment. "How did you find out where I was staying anyway? And why are you all bruised?"

"Lila, listen to me," Olivia began as calmly as she could ignoring the mundane questions. "You need to come to the hospital. Alex is asking for you, so please grab your coat and let's go now."

Lila glowered at her and crossed her arms. "Now why on earth would I want to go to her when not even seven hours ago she told me that not only she wanted me out of her life, but who also called me, what was it again? Ah yes that's right, she called me a horrid bitch."

"She didn't mean it, and she's really sorry," Olivia told her; feeling her composure begin to disperse. "She was asking for you, she's in a lot of trouble, and you need to come see her, okay, Alex needs you s lot right now."

Lila scoffed in disbelief. "No she doesn't. She doesn't love me; she wants nothing to do with me. She hates me."

"That's not true!" Olivia shouted a little louder then she had intended, feeling her tears creep up on her again. "Please just listen to me and go to the hospital!"

"No!" Lila snapped as she narrowed her eyes in anger, "and how DARE you try to tell me what I can or cannot do!

"Lila, you don't understand! You have to come to the hospital now!" Olivia cried frantically. "She wants you! She was asking for you!"

"Alexandra and I are no longer speaking, Olivia, as you are well aware!" Lila snapped, ignoring the pleading in Olivia's eyes. "It's too late for her apologies, and it will do her good for you to remind her of that, and to remind her that she shouldn't be so cruel to her own mother in a time of need!"

Lila turned to go back inside, but Olivia grabbed a hold of her arm, clinging to it like it was her last resort.

"Please!" Olivia begged, hanging on to the arm of her mother in law to keep her from going back inside as she finally reached her breaking point.

Lila twisted around, her eyes widening at the detectives actions. "What on earth?"

"Alex is dying!" Olivia screamed in desperation, no longer holding back the sobs that had threatened to escape her since the doctor told her the news. "She and the baby might die, and I don't know what to do! Please, Lila!" Olivia sobbed, saying the three words she never thought she would ever say to the woman standing before her. "Please help me!"

Lila's eyes widened and she took a step back away from a sobbing Olivia. "What do you mean she and the baby is dying?" asked Lila in a terrified voice.

Olivia finally let go of her and another sob escaped her as she tried to explain what had happened. "Alex saw a guy assault me and try to shoot me and all of the stress made her water broke and she just started… she started bleeding everywhere and it wouldn't stop! S- So I called 911 and on the way she made me pro- promise I would get you so she could apologize.

She's at the hosp- hospital and they told me twenty minutes ago that she's not clotting and if she delivers it could kill her but the baby's in distress and if they don't deliver the baby soon, the baby could die instead. Please, Lila, I know we've never gotten along, but I can't do this by myself!"

Lila put a shaking hand to her mouth as tears fell from her eyes shaking her head no as if that would make Olivia's words false. After a brief moment of stunned and tense silence, Lila only spoke two words. "I'll drive."

Thirty minutes and a very deathly silent car ride filled only with the sounds of Lila soft prayers later; Lila screeched her Ferrari to a stop in front of the hospital and both she and Olivia got out of the car.

"You can't park there, it's an ambulance loading zone!" a voice shouted out to them.

"Tow it!" Lila cried as they ran into the hospital where they spotted Elizabeth picking up a phone at the receptionist's desk.

"Dr. Shay!" Olivia shouted loudly as the two went over to her, hoping that she would be able to give them both some kind of good news.

But as Elizabeth turned and they saw the sorrow and franticness in her eyes, they knew anything that came out of her mouth wasn't going to be anything better then bad.

"How are they?" Olivia demanded as they stopped in front of her.

"I was just about to call you," Elizabeth said as she hung up the phone. "Alex still isn't clotting and the baby's heart rate and breathing levels are dangerously low. You need to choose what you want done now, Mrs. Benson."

Olivia let out a sob and almost collapsed to the floor but was surprised when she felt two arms that didn't belong to Elizabeth hoist her back up. "Olivia, you have to do this," Lila's voice whispered in her ear.

"I can't!" Olivia screamed as her words mixed with even more sobs. "I don't know what to do!"

Lila spun her around, her own tears flowing steadily down her face. "Listen to me, Olivia," she muttered softly but sternly. "That is your wife and child in there and you have to be the strong woman I know you are and take control of this."

Olivia shook her head; the tears making it nearly impossible to see. "Lila, I can't! Please…!"

"I know you love Alexandra," Lila continued, her own voice wavering on breaking but she forced herself to hold it together. "And she knows that and loves you just as much as well… But you know what she would want you to do."

Olivia and Lila stared at one another for a moment. Olivia's sobs had subdued and now streams of tears flowed heavily down both of their faces; each knowing what should be done, but neither wanting to say it out loud.

"I don't want to lose her," Olivia whispered softly.

"I don't either." Lila let out a sob. "She's my only daughter and I love her more than I've ever loved anyone else in this world… And because of that I know what she would want you to do and what you know is the right thing to do."

The two women looked at one another for a moment longer before Olivia closed her eyes in despair, unable to face the doctor, saying the three words she knew would change her life forever.

"Save the baby."

The doctor nodded before she ran off down the hall, leaving the two women alone.

Once she had gone there was only a brief moment Olivia remained somewhat composed before she broke down and fell to her knees sobbing to the point of hysterics.

Lila dropped to the floor as well and hugged Olivia as tight as she could, allowing Olivia to sob on her shoulder, her cries rocking both hers and her comforters body.

"It's alright," Lila whispered softly running her fingers through Olivia's hair like she had done to Alex when she was a child; her own tears running down her careworn face. "Everything's going to be alright… "

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