Disclaimer: Still don't own anything… Wish I did though, it would be awesome!
At the apartment, Olivia put the sleeping child to bed and started cleaning the kitchen. She knew that court was a couple of days away and she was worried about the affect it would inflict on Karla. She was worrying about Karla's intensifying nightmares. They didn't seem to let up and Karla was already showing signs of sleep problems. There was dark circles beginning to form under her baby blues and this worried Olivia intensely. Scrubbing the countertop, her fears came to life as a gut-wrenching scream came from her daughter's room. She ran into the room to find her little girl fighting in her sleep. She was screaming and crying. Olivia went over and laid a hand gently onto her daughter's shoulder.
"Shh…Karla, baby, it's mommy. You're okay," she murmured softly.
Karla calmed a minute, still in her slumber. She then jerked again and screamed. Olivia was trying to hold her down. She shook her to wake her up.
"Karla, baby, wake up," she said. Karla jerked again and again.
"Karla! Karla!" said Olivia, a bit louder, "Karla, baby, it's okay! You need to wake up!"
Karla whined and moaned, still not waking. Olivia was getting worried. Her daughter didn't usually do this. Karla usually woke up after she spoke to her.
"Karla, sweetie, they're not going to get you. Mommy's here, wake up!" said Olivia, worry etching her voice.
Karla jerked again and again. She screamed louder. Olivia was on the verge of tears. She picked Karla up and held her, rocking her gently.
"Karla, please baby, wake up for mommy! Please!" begged Olivia, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Karla groaned. She settled again, still asleep. Olivia was very worried at this point. She didn't know whether she should take her to a hospital or not. She was wondering if her daughter would rouse if she tried a bit harder.
"Karla! Baby, sweetie! Wake up! Open your eyes for mommy!" shouted Olivia, still rocking the girl.
Karla didn't move. Olivia, scared out of her wits, took her daughter and ran to the phone. She dialed Elliot, who she knew to still be at the precinct.
"Elliot," she said, her voice breaking, "I can't get her to wake up! I've tried everything! Can you take us to the hospital? I don't know what is happening!"
She hung up the phone. Elliot was on his way. The door unlocked and Olivia had everything set to go.
"Liv? What's going on? Why is she not waking?" asked Elliot, frantically.
"I don't know," said Olivia, crying. She was still holding a sleeping Karla. "She's not running a fever. She was having a nightmare and I tried walking her, but she won't wake up!" she said. They left for the hospital.
At the hospital, they entered the ER. The nurses told them to wait. In the waiting area, they tried again and again to get their little girl to wake up. Nothing was working. Both detectives were horrified. They wanted answers. A nurse came out and took them back to a triage room.
"My name is Julie. Can you tell me what's been going on?" asked the nurse calmly.
Olivia looked at the nurse, "I put my daughter to bed and then she was having a nightmare. I tried to wake her up, but she just kept jerking and wouldn't wake up!"
Olivia was almost hysterical. Normally, she wouldn't show this emotion, but the minute her little girl entered her life, everything changed.
"Okay," said Julie, "I'm going to go get the doctor. I'll be right back."
Julie left to retrieve the doctor on staff, Dr. Misty Burke. Olivia was still holding Karla and rocking her. She wanted to know why her daughter was waking up from her slumber. She was beyond worried.
"Elliot, what if something's wrong? What if that bastard did something that she didn't remember and this is the side effect?" cried Olivia.
Elliot put a hand on her shoulder. "Olivia, don't think like that. Karla is going to be fine," he said, trying to keep his faith.
Olivia nodded. Karla jerked again and moaned. Elliot was scared. He didn't know what was going on. It was like it was happening to someone else. He had just gotten this beautiful little girl. He didn't want to lose her anymore than her mother did. He knew that he wouldn't handle it well. He didn't know where the emotion he had was coming from. He noticed changes in Olivia since Karla had entered their lives. It scared him that if Karla were gone after this that everything would be broken. Olivia would be broken. It wasn't easy to break a woman as strong-willed as Olivia Benson, but he knew that if something happens to that little girl that it would kill her. Dr. Burke entered the room.
"I'm Dr. Misty Burke. I'm going to examine Karla. Ma'am," started Dr. Burke who gained a glare from Olivia. "It's detective or Miss Benson. Not ma'am," hissed Olivia. Dr. Burke nodded.
She understood the hostility and knew that the woman had been crying. "Detective Benson, I need you to put Karla on the bed so I can examine her properly," said Dr. Burke calmly.
Olivia got up and laid her daughter on the bed. She held one of the girl's hands in her own. She was still trying to will her awake. The doctor took the girl's temperature, pulse and blood pressure. She felt the girl's lymph nodes and her eyes widen in fear at the swelling.
"I'm going to have to run some blood test. Will you be okay with that?" she asked, hesitantly.
Olivia nodded, not looking up from her daughter. The doctor left. Olivia started crying again. Elliot was becoming increasingly worried. A nurse came in with a kit, Dr. Burke followed behind her.
"Lilah will be taking blood for testing while I ask you a few questions. Is that alright?" asked Dr. Burke, looking from one detective to the other.
Elliot looked at Olivia who looked at him and they both nodded. Dr. Burke pulled a chair up to sit next to Olivia.
"Detective, has Karla been anxious or moody in the past couple of days?" Dr. Burke asked.
"She…she…was kidnapped a couple days ago. Of course she's been moody and anxious, but what does that have to do with anything?" asked Olivia, annoyed.
"It's just an elimination question. Has she been sleeping more than that of a normal child or been trying to stay up late at night?" replied the doctor.
Olivia nodded and said, "I thought it was because of what she has been through." The doctor nodded an understanding.
"Detectives, I can't be sure until the results come back, and there may be other tests we have to perform, but from the looks of things and what you have been-" started the doctor when Olivia interrupted, "Cut to the chase! What's wrong with my child?"
Dr. Burke sighed and rubbed her forehead, "I think your daughter may have an extremely rare case of sleeping sickness. It's due to a bite from the Tsetse fly from Africa. Normally, this occurs with persons who have lived or traveled to and from Africa. Have any of you been out of the country recently?"
Elliot spoke up, "Olivia and I haven't, but we don't know if Karla has or anyone she has been in contact with has." Dr. Burke's brow furrowed. "How could you not know whether you child has left the country?" she asked calmly, gaining a glare from Olivia and Elliot both.
"Because, we didn't know she was our child until last week. Up until that time, she was being raised by an asshole who beat her and blamed her for something she had no control over," Elliot was losing his temper.
Olivia got up and said, "El, calm down. Breathe."
"Liv! How can you be so calm? She's accusing us of something we didn't do!" yelled Elliot.
"I am not! I am just trying to help your daughter! I can't do that with the facts!" said the doctor, raising her voice.
"El, it's not her fault. We both know what has happened and we can't change that, but right now we need to worry about Karla and getting her to wake up," said Olivia, turning to the doctor, "We have no idea if she has been out of the country before we found her, and with her being kidnapped a few short days ago, that man may have been out of the country and brought the fly back with him. Just please do what you can to help our daughter."
Dr. Burke nodded. "I'm going to do some more tests to be sure that she has the sickness, and if she does I am going to put her on a series of medicines to flush it from her system. She should be fine within a month, but if it goes untreated, I fear the results would be dire," said the doctor.
Olivia nodded with tears in her eyes. Elliot was silent in his brooding, stunned stage. The nurses and the doctor bustled to get the tests done in order to confirm that this young girl had the rare disease. To Olivia and Elliot, this took forever. They just wanted Karla to open her eyes. They wanted to hear her voice. She just kept sleeping. After a few days of this, the doctor came in and the tests confirmed what the doctor thought.
"We're going to start her treatment. Hopefully, shortly after that she will wake, and in a month, the sickness will be out of her system," said the doctor confidently.
Olivia hugged Elliot with tears in her eyes. She was elated that her daughter was going to live. The nurses administered the first round of medications. The detectives waited on the girl's bedside. They were hoping and praying that she would wake soon.
A/N: Poor Karla! Will she wake? Wanna know? Review to get the next chapter!
