DISCLAIMER: The hospital staff are mine. No one else. I'm pretty sad about it.
A/N: Hey guys, I noticed a mistake in the last chapter (of course, I realized it AFTER I'd had this one mostly written!) and had to fix it. But it changes some things, so here's what going on: originally, at the end of the last chapter, I had Olivia say Elliot's name. And then, I realized that I hadn't had anyone take her tracheotomy tube out yet! So, I changed the last chapter a bit. She never said Elliot's name and she still has the tube in at the beginning of this chapter.
I work in theater, so I'm clearly not a doctor, but I'm trying my best with the medical stuff. I'm Googling a lot and recalling the many episodes of ER that I've seen. So, I'm sorry if there are some inaccuracies where those pieces are concerned. If I've royally screwed anything up, please let me know! Thanks again for reading! I appreciate it more than I can say. :)
As he gripped her hand in his own, he watched her struggle to open her eyes. He watched her fight her way back to consciousness, knowing that once she did, she would most likely wish she never had. But he couldn't think of that. All he could think of was his love for the woman lying before him, all he could think of was getting her back, of being there for her, to help her, if she would let him.
She moaned and fought against the tube in her throat, squeezing his hand so tightly he thought she might draw blood.
"I'm here, Liv," Elliot said softly, reassuringly. "I'm here."
She moaned in response.
"Okay, Liv," Elliot said. "Let me get the doctor." He started to drop her hand and she gripped it as tightly as she could.
Wide, terrified eyes shot opened and found his face. She locked her grip on his arm, begging him not to leave her. She was still heavily medicated, confused, scared. It terrified the hell out of him.
"It's okay, Liv," Elliot took her hand again and lovingly stroked her cheek. "It's okay. I won't leave, I promise."
Knowing she needed a doctor's attention, Elliot pressed the call button for the nurses' station, hoping someone would arrive soon. Mercifully, the door swung open and in stepped Colleen, the day nurse. "Yes, Detective Stabler?"
Elliot turned but did not release Olivia's hand from his grip. "She's awake. Disoriented and in pain."
Colleen quickly approached the bed. "Detective Benson?" Olivia's eyes opened into tiny slits as she fought to find the owner of this new voice. "You're in the hospital. You have a tube in your throat and your jaw is wired shut. You can't speak. But you're okay. I need you to calm down."
Olivia closed her eyes and nodded.
"Good. Good girl," Colleen touched her cheek softly and Olivia recoiled as much as she could before wincing and moaning in pain. "I'm going to get the doctor for you. We'll get you something for the pain, okay?"
Olivia's nodded in response and Colleen darted out of the room. She looked at Elliot with wide, pleading eyes, begging him to understand.
"I know, Liv," Elliot touched her cheek and was relieved to see she didn't pull away. "I know."
The room went quiet as they waited for the doctor to arrive. The silence was only broken by Olivia's small moans of pain and Elliot's soft words of comfort. Soon, the hospital room door opened and Olivia's doctor entered. Elliot had met him a few times over the past several days and knew him to be a man of few words. He only hoped his bedside manner with his patients was better than his overall demeanor. Fortunately, Colleen followed after him and Elliot felt reassured in her presence.
"Detective Benson?" the doctor's voice was soft and Elliot was relieved.
Olivia nodded in response, indicating that she'd heard him and understood him.
The doctor smiled. "I'm Doctor Carter. Don't try to speak, okay? That tube is helping to keep your breathing normal. Your jaw is broken and wired shut."
She released her grip on Elliot's hand to bring her fingers to the tube protruding from her throat. She looked at the doctor and Elliot with pleading eyes.
"She wants the tube out," Elliot said.
"Okay, we'll work on that," the doctor nodded. "Is it okay if I check your eyes?" Olivia nodded and the doctor pried her eyes open to shine a small light in them. "Pupils are equal and reactive," Carter told Colleen who indicated it in her chart. "Olivia, on a scale of one to ten, how bad is the pain right now?"
Olivia held up both hands, indicating her pain was severe.
"Okay," the doctor said. "We're going to get you something for that." He gave some directions to Colleen who nodded and left to prepare the medication. "I know this is a lot to take in right now, so I won't go over the extent of your injuries. Just know that you're making a beautiful recovery and that you're going to be okay. Okay?"
Olivia nodded.
"Okay," Doctor Carter patted her hand and looked up as Colleen entered the room. "Push it all. She needs to rest."
"Yes, Doctor," Colleen said, bringing a small syringe to Olivia's I.V. bag. "It's some morphine," she told Elliot softly. "Not as much as she's been on, but it'll relieve the pain and help her rest more."
Elliot nodded and watched her administer the drug, thankful that it would give Olivia some relief.
"Rest now, Olivia," Doctor Carter said. "I'll be back to check on you in a few hours. By that time, you should be feeling better."
Olivia gave a small nod and let her eyes slip closed.
"Thank you, Doctor," Elliot said, standing to shake the man's hand. The Doctor took it and smiled at him, then wordlessly left the room.
"Buzz me if you need anything," Colleen smiled and followed the Doctor out. And with that, they were alone.
Olivia fought to keep her eyes open and on Elliot.
"Rest now, Liv. I'll be here when you wake up," Elliot said softly, pressing a light kiss to her forehead.
Olivia merely nodded.
He watched her for a few moments and then remembered his phone. It had rung seconds before she had woken up and Elliot recalled the good news that Fin had given him: they'd gotten McCullum. He snatched the phone up from the floor, thankful that somehow it hadn't broken, and dialed Fin's number.
"Fin," he said. "She woke up." He couldn't stop the grin from forming, nor the tears from streaming down his face.
The grin on Fin's face was broad as he shouted across the squad room. "Cap!"
Cragen made a beeline for Fin's desk, speaking determinedly, firmly. "You have news?"
"Liv's back."
Cragen's eyes widened and he smiled softly. "Well then let's make sure we have some good news for her when we visit. I think we've let McCullum sweat it out long enough. You and Munch go break him. I want him to confess to everything he did to her. I want this bastard to rot in jail."
"You got it, Cap," Munch said, following Fin across the squad room and into the interrogation room.
And with that, the Captain retired to his office. As he shut the door behind him, he leaned softly against it and let a few small, silent tears slip from his eyes. His girl was back. The precious daughter he'd never had. The detective he'd watched turn from greener-than-green to a strong, confident tour-de-force. The woman he'd watched grow up in front of his eyes. She was back.
Clearing his throat gruffly, Cragen wiped his eyes on his sleeve and left his office to watch Fin and Munch break the man who'd shattered their friend.
Elliot sat back in the chair beside Olivia's bed. It felt as though it had formed to his body. He felt sorry for the next person to sit in it. He knew it would forever have his ass print in the cushion. He chuckled softly at the thought.
David McCullum's file lay open in his lap. Munch and Fin had faxed over everything they'd found on the guy and Elliot sat, taking notes on a steno pad that Sarah, who had started her shift an hour ago, had kindly provided him.
His phone buzzed softly from the table beside him. He was thankful in that moment that he'd turned the ringer off. The last thing he wanted was to disturb his sleeping partner. He glanced at the caller ID and saw Fin's name. He answered quickly. "Fin, what've you got?"
"Not much, Elliot," Fin said. The frustration in his voice was evident. "Bastard won't cop to anything. We need Liv's statement. Cap wants us to come down and get it."
"She can't speak, Fin."
"I know," Fin acquiesced. "We're bringing a dry erase board with us, so we can get the details."
Elliot sighed. "Okay. She's still sleeping. But she should be awake pretty soon. At least that's what Sarah, the night nurse, told me when she stopped by earlier. When she wakes up, they'll be taking the tube out of her throat."
"Okay. We'll be down in about an hour. We need to get him for this tonight. Other than the black eye, we don't have anything to hold him on."
"Prints in the apartment?" Elliot said.
"He was her boyfriend, Elliot. The prints could have been from weeks ago."
Elliot sighed. "Yeah. Okay. If she wakes up before you get here, I'll prep her. See you soon."
"Yup."
Elliot hung up his phone and set it beside him, sighing and running his hand down his face. He heard a slight rustle come from Olivia's bed and his eyes shot up to where she lay. She was awake and staring up at the ceiling, tearing streaming from the corners of her eyes. "Hey," Elliot whispered, dragging his chair quietly and quickly to her bedside. "Hey…" he slipped his hand into hers, giving it a small squeeze.
She shut her eyes tightly, more tears slipping down her cheeks.
"I'm going to call the doctor, okay? He can get that tube out," Elliot pressed the call button again and within seconds, Sarah opened the door to the hospital room.
"Well, look who's awake!" Sarah exclaimed softly. "I've been waiting to meet you for days, Olivia."
Olivia looked at the nurse and then back at Elliot, squeezing his hand.
Elliot smiled. "Olivia, this is Sarah. She's been taking really good care of you."
"Not to mention keeping your partner in constant supply of coffee," Sarah smiled down at Olivia. "It's good to have you back, Olivia. Now let's see what we can do about getting this tube out of your throat." Sarah made a call from a phone in the corner of the room and was back to Olivia's bedside in moments. "Now, Olivia. When the doctor removes the tube, you're going to have to really focus on your breathing. A wired jaw can make it difficult to breathe, but not impossible. Just try not to get worked up, okay?"
Olivia simply nodded.
"You'll be able to speak a little, but not well. And you'll be on a liquid diet for the next several weeks."
Olivia nodded again.
As Sarah busied herself around the room, Elliot leaned in close to Olivia and whispered, "It will be good to hear your voice again."
Olivia turned her face to look him in the eyes. She pulled her hand from his grip and reached up, touching his cheek and smiling softly. Elliot leaned in and softly kissed her forehead, pulling back afterwards to look into her eyes.
The doctor arrived in short order and set to work in removing the tube from Olivia's throat. The process was easy and Olivia had no complications, so after her neck was bandaged up, the doctor excused himself and Sarah set about checking Olivia's vital signs. Elliot, in need of a task, poured a small cup of water for Olivia and, picking up the small straw from the table, brought it to her lips.
"Small sips, okay?" he whispered. Olivia nodded and sucked the end of the straw, swallowing slowly and carefully.
Once she had finished, Elliot set the cup on the bedside table and turned back to her. She gripped his hand and looked into his eyes. And then, through the wires holding her jaw together, she spoke.
"El."
Her voice was barely a whisper, but it was there. And she said his name. And with that, the tears streamed down Elliot's cheeks and he buried his face in the blankets that covered her.
She reached over her body with her plaster-covered wrist and stroked her fingers through his hair, letting the tears escape her own eyes. She felt the pain she felt leave her body with each year and replaced it with a resolve she didn't even know she possessed. She would get through this. She would get better. She had to.
For him.
Okay, I think we're back on track here. Please review. And again, let me know if I've messed anything up severely. Thank you everyone!