Dick owns 'em.


When Alex and Casey were in the room, all Elliot wanted was to be alone with Olivia. Now that they were gone, he wanted nothing more than to have them back. He was holding Olivia's hand and he had no idea what to do.

"Hey, Liv. It's uh, it's me. I was just thinking about the first time we met. Cragen introduced us and I was livid. I was so sure I didn't want a woman for a partner. I stormed into Cragen's office and gave him hell. You know what he did? He stood there, arms crossed, and just waited until I was finished rambling. Then he said four simple words: 'Give her a chance.' Those four words made me so angry. I didn't want to give you a chance. My partner had just died and all I could think about was the fact that I'd been handed this female rookie I'd have to train. But then we caught our first case. And you chased that perp nearly half a mile before tackling him. I couldn't keep up with you. That's when I knew I could trust you to have my back." He took a deep breath and traced her knuckles. The machines were beeping, proving they were keeping her alive. This room is way too white, he decided. How anyone was supposed to recover in such a plain room he had no idea. Though he supposed with her being in a coma, the décor of the room didn't matter much. "I failed you today. I didn't have your back. So now you have to wake up. You have to wake up so I can have your back again. You have to wake up so I can tell you how much I love you." He sighed and looked away from her. "You have to wake up because I can't do this without you."


The days passed by slowly. Everyone stopped by to visit Olivia, wishing there was more they could do and knowing that there wasn't. Elliot only left her side to eat and use the restroom. Munch and Fin had caught a case, so they'd only been able to stop by a couple of times. Alex was there for almost all of visiting hours and Case came when she did have to be in court.

Five days had passed and there was no change. "The doctors are still hopeful," Elliot said when Alex walked into the room on that fifth day. "They said that considering her injuries and how they had to...to remove her spleen and shock her back to life twice, five days really isn't that much time."

"Elliot, go home."

"No, Alex. I can't leave her. If she wakes up and I'm not here-"

"You ever stop to think that she might not have woken up because you smell like you haven't taken a shower in five days? Oh wait, that's right. You haven't taken a shower in five days."

"What?"

Alex smiled and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Go home. Take a shower. Eat some real food for a change. Then you can come back here and hold her hand again. I'll stay. And I promise to call you if she wakes up."

"Alex-"

"Go home, Elliot!" She stepped out of the way so Elliot could say a few things to Olivia in private. She gave him a hug as he reluctantly left the room. As she took a seat in the chair next to Olivia's bed, she frowned. "Your color's coming back. I had to send Elliot home. He was starting to stink up the whole room. We're trying to get you better, not make you worse." She sat there in silence for a while. Memories of her time as the SVU ADA came flooding back to her and she couldn't keep the smile off her face. So many cases. They'd been through so much together. It hadn't always been easy, but they'd always come out okay in the end. Despite all their fights, despite getting shot and being "dead" for three years, Alex had managed to remain good friends with her. She held Olivia's hand. "Okay, Olivia, here's the thing," she said firmly. "You've been in this coma for five days. Now, I know you were stabbed. Twice. With a big knife that had a hook on the end. I know that must have hurt like hell. And I know they had to take your spleen and shock your heart twice. Your body's been through hell and it needs time to recover. But recover already. We're going crazy here and we really need you to recover. I'm going to get married and I need you to be there. I need my maid of honor to be there. So damn it, Olivia, wake up!"

Barely two had passed when Alex noticed that Olivia's eyelids were fluttering. She was trying to wake up. Alex immediately paged the nurses' station and leaned her face close to Olivia's. "That's it, Liv. That's it. Wake up. You can do it. Wake up!"

Two nurses walked into the room and when Alex told them Olivia was waking up they immediately paged her doctor and got to work checking her vitals. It took nearly twenty minutes, but Olivia finally managed to open her eyes. She immediately began to struggle.

"Ms. Benson," one of the nurses said softly. "You're okay. You've got a tube down your throat to help you breathe. The doctor's on his way to take it out. Just relax, okay?"

Olivia was breathing heavily as she tried to figure out what was going on. She remembered being stabbed, and she remembered people talking to her. She'd been trying to open her eyes for what felt like forever, but it had been so difficult; and she had been so tired. Her eyes were darting around the room and she eventually met Alex's. Relief washed over her.

"The doctor's on his way," Alex said, squeezing Olivia's hand.

The doctor ran into the room and made her way to Olivia's bed. "Okay, Olivia, we're going to pull the tube out now. You're going to feel like coughing, and that's okay. On the count of three, I'm going to pull it out. One...two...three."

The coughing spasm forced Olivia into a near seated position and she quickly placed her hand her right side and winced. She turned to Alex and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Fear took over and she started to panic a little. She knew she was in a hospital, but she didn't know this doctor standing over her. How long had she been here? Why couldn't she talk? And where the hell was Elliot?

"You've been intubated for five days, Ms. Benson," the doctor told her. "I'm Dr. Carden and I've been taking care of you for those five days. Well, really the nurses have. I've just been keeping track of your recovery." She offered a small smile and checked Olivia over quickly. "Everything looks pretty good from here. Your throat's probably pretty sore and dry from the tube. I'll have someone bring you a bit of water. How are you feeling though? Does anything hurt?"

Olivia was overwhelmed. So many people were standing around her and hearing that she'd been in a coma for the past five days was just too much for her to absorb. She took a deep, shaky breath as she met Alex's eyes and placed her hand on her side again.

"Your side?" Alex asked. "Your side hurts?" When Olivia nodded, Alex turned to Dr. Carden. "Can you give her anything?" She didn't bother to mention that the fact that Olivia was even admitting she was in pain meant that it had to be excruciating.

Dr. Carden placed her hand on Olivia's shoulder and waited for Olivia to turn towards her. "We're going to give you something for the pain, and it's going to make you tired. Don't fight it. Despite being in a coma for five days, your body really needs to rest.

Once Dr. Carden and the nurses left, Alex pulled out her cell phone. "I'm going to step outside and call Elliot. I have no reception in here, so I have to go out to the parking lot." She took a step away from the bed and all of a sudden Olivia was holding her hand. She saw something she'd never seen in Olivia before: fear. Surviving a stabbing, dying twice, a spleen removal, and a five-day coma must be pretty terrifying. She sat back down in the chair and rested her arm on the bed. "How about I give him a call after you fall asleep?" She smiled when she saw a bit of relief come over Olivia's face. She gently nudged her arm and leaned back. "Welcome back, Olivia. Welcome back."


Elliot's phone was ringing. The first thought that entered his head was that if he ignored it for long enough, Olivia would answer it. Then an image of her lying in a coma in a hospital room, hooked up to all sorts of machines, entered his head and he sat up. The phone call could be about her. He was out of bed in a second. "Hello?"

"She's awake," Alex told him.

He sat back down on the bed and struggled to breathe. "She woke up?"

"About an hour ago. She was a little disoriented at first, but once Dr. Carden pulled out the breathing tube and gave her some water, she seemed okay."

"Did she say anything?"

"No," Alex answered softly. "Her throat was pretty sore and dry from the tube, and she was exhausted. She's sleeping now, and I have a feeling she'd much rather see you than me when she wakes up. So you'd better get your ass over here."

As soon as Alex disconnected the line, Elliot was out the door. He had only intended to take a shower and change clothes, but after spending five days sleeping in a chair next to Olivia, his bed had looked so comfortable. He was asleep the second his head hit the pillow. He knew it was understandable for him to have fallen asleep, but he still felt guilty that he hadn't been there when she had woken up. He felt better knowing Alex was with her. At least she hadn't been alone.

He arrived at the hospital and ran into her room. Alex was sitting in the chair by the bed and Olivia was sleeping peacefully. The breathing tube was gone. Now all she had was a small oxygen tube under her nose and an i.v. In her left hand. He had never been so relieved in his life. His wife was alive. She was out of her coma and she was breathing on her own. He walked over and placed a hand on Alex's back. "Hey," he whispered.

"You got here quickly. How many laws did you break?"

"I turned my siren on." He waited for Alex to get out of the chair and took her spot, immediately holding Olivia's hand as he did so. "Thanks for calling me."

"Elliot, she's your wife. Of course I called you. Now I'm going to head home and Casey and I will call everyone. Do you want us to tell them to stop by today or wait for your call?"

Elliot checked his watch. It was almost three. As much as he was sure Olivia would want to see everyone, he didn't want to overwhelm her. And, truth be told, he really wanted to be alone with her for a while. "I think we'd better just wait until tomorrow. I want to spend some time with her, and she really needs her rest."

Alex nodded, gave Olivia's foot a firm squeeze, and walked out of the room with a smile on her face. Everything really was going to be okay.


Alex waited outside the courtroom for Casey to finish. She'd tried calling her from the hospital, but Casey hadn't answered. When she'd called Casey's office, an intern had informed her that Casey had been pulled into a last minute hearing and would be a while. All she could do now was wait. This wasn't at all easy, and she noticed she was checking her watch every five minutes. "Oh, get a grip on yourself!" she muttered.

Twenty minutes passed. Then thirty. After almost forty-five minutes, the courtroom doors finally opened and Alex all but ran into the room.

"Alex, hey," Casey said when Alex reached her desk. She was taking her time stacking her papers and putting them into her briefcase. The deal she'd just made hadn't been one she'd wanted to make, and Farman had called her at the last minute begging her to accept. She'd reluctantly agreed to it, but only because it gave her the location of two more bodies. This man deserved to rot in hell for all of eternity. But she'd settled for him rotting in a cell for a while before that happened. She noticed Alex's foot tapping nervously and looked up. "Something the matter?"

"Olivia's awake!"

Casey's jaw dropped. "She's what?"

"She's awake."

"Any reason you waited until I finished packing up my things to tell me?"

Alex shrugged. "People were still clearing out. I wanted to make sure I could tell you the good news without a bunch of eavesdroppers standing around."

It took Casey a few seconds to absorb the news. After spending the last five days visiting her best friend in the hospital, hoping each day that she would wake up, the news that Olivia was out of her coma was a bit overwhelming. "She's really awake?"

"Yeah."

"How is she?"

"She's okay, I think. A little disoriented when she woke up, which I guess is understandable given everything that happened. She was asleep when I left Elliot with her."

Casey sat down in her chair and took Alex's hand. "Did she say anything?"

"She couldn't. Her throat was too dry and sore and she was pretty tired."

"She's been through hell. Her body needs time to recover."

Alex nodded. She and Casey walked out of the courthouse and over to her car. "Elliot's with her now," she said. "He wanted tonight with her, but we can visit tomorrow."

"That'll be nice."

"Yeah, it will."

They spent the drive in silence and Alex pulled into the driveway. She took several deep breaths and got out of the car. Once they were inside, they sat down on the couch and wrapped their arms around each other. Alex had so much energy and no way to burn it off.

"You're awfully jumpy," Casey told her.

"I'm just excited."

"Me, too."

Alex sat up with a start. "The squad!"

"What about them?"

"Well I doubt Elliot called anyone. He's too busy at Olivia's side."

"Oh," Casey said dumbly. "Right. Well I guess we've got a few calls to make. Guess it's a good thing we'll be calling with good news. Very, very good news," she said with a grin.