Hey guys, I'm back finally! Had a very busy week away with orchestra and haven't had the chance to update. But I'm back now and got updates for you all.
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Elliot had made the journey across town in minutes; upon arriving at Olivia's apartment building he met Simon in the lobby with the awaited pizza and ice-cream.
"What the hell is going on?" Elliot said flustered. Simon shook his head.
"What do you mean? I just went out to get pizza" Simon said confused.
"Casey called me, said something was wrong with Olivia" Elliot said before running up the stairs skipping two or three steps as he ran up closely followed by Simon.
Elliot thumped on the door and Casey answered it immediately.
"Thank god you're here!" she said opening the door and letting them through. Elliot pushed past her into the apartment and saw Olivia sitting on the floor sobbing. He went to put his arms around her but she attempted to crawl away from him.
"How long has she been like this" Elliot said over Olivia's crying.
"I called you as soon as it started, she hasn't stopped. She just keeps crying and muttering Sarah all the time, I didn't know what else to do" Casey said on the verge of tears herself after seeing her friend in such distress.
"I'm glad you called me" Elliot turned to her before turning back to Olivia. He reached out his hand to her as she was now beside the sofa with her knees drawn up to her chest.
"It's ok, Olivia. It's Elliot, I'm right here. Can you hear me?" Elliot said but she just kept muttering sober apologies to Sarah.
"What's happening?" Simon said standing by Casey.
"I don't know, I think she's breaking out of the silence" Elliot said trying to reach her.
"Olivia? Please, please talk me. I'll be able to help you if you tell me what's wrong" Elliot whispered, trying to calm Olivia down.
"It's ok, everything is going to be alright, no one is gonna hurt you, ok?" Elliot soothed. Olivia uncurled herself out of the ball she'd made herself into and flung herself into his arms. More sobs erupted from her body and his shirt was drenched with her tears. He sat on the floor with her until her sobs died down and she fell into a deep sleep. Casey and Simon had stayed near by in case anything else might of happened. It was gone 11pm before Elliot decided to put her to bed; he gently lifted her up into his arms and carried her to her bedroom. He lay her down on the bed and pulled the duvet up around her shoulder. He sat on the edge of the bed for a few moments and brushed the hair out of her eyes, he smiled she se moved towards his touch. He went to get up to leave but her hand emerged from under the duvet and grabbed his hand.
"Don't leave me" she said. He'd never heard her sound so broken and it broke his heart to hear her so afraid. He slipped off his shoes and moved to the other side of the bed. He lay on top on the duvet and took her in his arms. It felt so natural and she fit into his chest so comfortably it was like they were two puzzle pieces meant to fit together. It wasn't long before he himself fell into deep slumber.
Simon and Casey had adopted the sofa after Elliot had taken Olivia into her room. They assumed that he would stay in there with her and didn't think anything of it when he didn't emerge after a few minutes.
"Do you want a drink?" Simon asked Casey, they'd been watching some crap late night movie and Simon had decided that conversation might be a better way to spend the time.
"No thanks," Casey said with a heavy sigh.
"I wish I could have been here sooner" Simon said holding a glass of brandy which he'd found in one of the cupboards. He didn't know Olivia had a taste for brandy but then again he didn't know much about her at all.
"There was nothing you could have done, it wouldn't have changed anything" Casey replied.
"I know, but seeing her like this scares me, she's my big sister and I can't stand the thought that I can't do anything to help her" he said downing his glass.
"She's seen a lot over the years, after a while you seem to just get on with it, she told me. I never seen her like this either, Simon, the Olivia I know is head strong, funny, caring, smart beautiful. Now she's just like an empty shell of what she used to be" Casey said staring at the TV screen.
"Elliot said something about getting her to see a therapist" Simon said swirling the contents of his cup.
"Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't but we have to give it a try. At least she's talking a little now, it's better than nothing even if she doesn't make sense most of the time" Casey said.
"Better than nothing" Simon said reaching for the bottle.
"She's my friend, and I can't bear to see her like this" Casey said, suddenly bursting into tears. Simon put his arm around her and drew her into a hug.
"I know, we all want her to get better" he said rubbing her shoulder.
"I think the only person who can help her through this is Elliot" she said sniffing and pulling away from Simon's shoulder.
"Isn't he married though?" Simon asked. Casey nodded.
"Divorced but him and Kathy got back together a while ago, but everyone knows it was only because of EJ and Elliot doesn't even know for certain if EJ is really his" Casey said taking the bottle of brandy from Simon and swigged from the bottle.
"What does Kathy think of their relationship, they're very close" Simon said taking the bottle ff her.
"She's always hated the close relationship between them. She's never liked Olivia. As far as she's concerned Olivia is a threat to her... though Olivia would never do anything to get in the way of Elliot's marriage" Casey said.
"But she has, maybe not intentionally. I saw the way he looked at her, you saw it too. We both know who Elliot would rather be with; I mean he's here, isn't he? In Olivia's bed and not his own with his wife, I don't think this is going to be easy for them"
"I don't know, no one said it would be easy but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. But I'm here to support Olivia NOT Elliot and his marital problems. If he loves Olivia like you think he does then why did he get back with Kathy?" Casey asked. Simon didn't reply.
"You haven't seen them fight and argue like I have" she said.
"They argue?" Simon smiled trying to lighten the mood. Casey laughed.
"They fight like cat and dog sometimes" She said.
"Like an old married couple?" Simon laughed.
"Yeah, I wish it could go back to how it used to be, though. The good old days" Casey said her laughter turning into a more serious tone.
"It will get better"
888
Olivia's sleep was troubled, all the things she wanted to say were trapped up in her head and haunted her in her sleep. She saw Sarah walking around in the same state she had been in when she was in the chair except she had been let free. And she followed Olivia wherever she went. All Olivia could hear was her screaming and crying "Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?" over and over again, getting louder and louder. Olivia sat bolt upright sweating and breathing heavily.
Her quick motion woke Elliot up too. He sat up and turned on the lamp beside the bed.
"What's the matter?" He asked, taking her face in his hands in the dim light. He brushed the tears out of her eyes with his thumbs.
"It was just a dream" she said gasping for breath.
"Sarah was in it" finished, nausea swirling in her stomach.
"You want to talk about it?" Elliot asked gently, massaging her shoulder.
"No, I don't want to. I'm sorry Elliot but I just can't. Not right now" she said. Rubbing her eyes with her hands.
"It's ok, take your time, lie back down and get some sleep" he soothed encouraging her to lie back down with him.
"What time is it?" she said as she relaxed into his hands around her shoulders as he lay her back down.
"Almost 2:30" he said looking at his watch.
"Have you been here the whole time?" she asked embarrassed
"Do you want me to leave?" he said. Olivia shook her head quickly.
"No, I don't want to be alone" she said clutching his shirt.