For disclaimers, please see chapter 1
Standing outside the door the doctor had led her to, Alex was reluctant to enter. She had been there when Olivia was injured and saw the entire fight. She heard the doctor give the extent of her injuries and she didn't know if she could handle seeing the usually strong detective looking vulnerable under the hospital lights.
Finally gathering her courage to go into the hospital room, Alex was glad to see that it wasn't as bad as she had feared. Olivia was only connected to the heart monitor and the IV drip. For some reason she had imagined several machines all working together to keep her love alive.
She walked over to the bed, took a seat in the provided chair, and grabbed onto Olivia's hand, almost willing her to squeeze back. The doctor entered to make sure everything was still alright.
"Do you have any idea when she will wake up?" Alex asked, not taking her eyes off Olivia's face.
"The anesthesia should wear off in another couple of hours. However, we're going to be keeping her in a medically induced coma to give her body time to heal," the doctor explained.
"Would it be alright if I stay with her?" Alex questioned, still not looking at the doctor.
"According to her chart you're family so you are allowed to stay as long as you would like. Everyone else will have to wait until visiting hours," the doctor said. He finished his work and walked back out of the room.
Alex was left alone, with only the sound of the hospital machines to interrupt her thoughts. Not for the first time she wondered how she became the next of kin and emergency contact. She was going to make sure she questioned the detective about then when she woke up. Suddenly feeling the events of the day catch up to her, Alex laid her head on the side of the bed and fell asleep, never letting go of Olivia's hand.
Casey and Abbie were sat in the back of a cab on the way back to Casey's apartment. Despite the interruption, the night had gone very well. The cab came to a stop outside of Casey's apartment. Abbie exited the cab first, giving Casey room to exit the car on the same side as the side walk.
"I had a good time tonight," Abbie said. "Minus the whole hospital visit."
"I agree. We should do it again," Casey replied hopefully.
"Definitely," Abbie smiled.
Casey returned the smile and made her way towards the door to her building. Abbie was just about to get back into the cab when she realized that the night didn't feel quite over yet. "Casey!" She called out, causing the red head to turn with a confused look on her face. Abbie made her way up the steps of the building and stopped right in front of Casey. She placed her hands on either side of Casey's face and leaned in for a kiss, one that was returned eagerly. Casey drew her tongue along the brunette's bottom, asking for permission to deepen the kiss, a request which was quickly granted. They slowly explored each other for a few more minutes before oxygen became a concern and they reluctantly drew apart.
"Good night, Casey," Abbie whispered as she slowly walked backwards back towards the cab, keeping her gaze fixed on Casey.
"Good night," Casey replied. She watched her go with a small smile spreading across her face. As Abbie finally got in the cab, Casey turned to let herself into her building. Both women returned to their apartments feeling content and happy for the first time in a very long time.
Three days had gone by and the detective had yet to wake up. Granted is was the hospitals choice at this point, but Alex wanted to look into those warm chocolate eyes, if only to reassure herself that everything was going to be ok.
Over the course of Olivia's, stay there had been many visitors, some expected while others were a complete surprise. Even though Liv didn't know they were there, Alex was very grateful. Abbie, Casey, Anita, Nola, and the guys from the 1-6 were among the first and most often. Lennie Briscoe and Ed Green and various others among the force also stopped in, some Alex new from around the courthouse and others she had never seen before. Some of the surprising visitors were Judge Petrovsky, Arthur Branch, and Liz Donnelly. Alex, for her part, only left long enough to go home, shower, change, and grab something to eat. One of their friends was usually available to sit with Olivia until Alex was able to return.
She had just returned and relieved Munch of his babysitting duties, as he called them, when Casey came through the door with a big grin on her face.
"What are you smiling about?" Alex asked, with a small smile of her own.
"I just got out of Arraignment and you are the first one I wanted to tell," Casey explained.
"Please tell me that bastard is going away for life," Alex said.
"If I have my way he'll be getting a needle in the arm sooner rather than later," Casey said, turning serious for the moment. "He has been indicted on four counts of rape one, four counts of murder one, one count of kidnapping, one count of bribery, and one count of assaulting a police officer. I wanted to go for attempted murder on that, but Branch thought I might be pushing it. Matthews' DNA matched what was found on all of the victims so we have a rock solid case. First thing Langon did was come up and offer to make a deal."
"It figures that bastard would be representing that scum," Alex sneered. "What did pitiful offer did he try and make?"
"The only thing he gave was 25 to life, saying if this went to trial Matthews would get off due to mental disease or defect," Casey raised her arm cutting Alex's response. "I've already had Huang evaluate him. There is nothing insane about him. I also plan on calling the doctor he had while he was committed."
When Casey had finished going over what had happened in court, the door opened allowing the doctor to enter. "Good afternoon ladies," he greeted them. "I have good news."
"What?" Both Alex and Casey asked simultaneously.
"We are taking Detective Benson out of the coma today," he said as he pushed a syringe of clear liquid through the IV. "She should be awake in the next couple of hours."
"Thank you very much doctor, for everything,"
"It's been a pleasure, Ms. Cabot," he smiled at her. "I'll be back in a few hours to check on her."
"I've meant to ask the other night, but when exactly did Liv change her medical information?" Casey asked. "As far as I know you guys have only been an 'us' for about a week."
"I have no idea, but as soon as I know she's ok when she wakes up, that is the first thing I am going to ask," Alex responded. Suddenly she got a big grin on her face. "Speaking of the other night, how did your date go?"
The grin on Casey's face matched Alex's. "It was amazing. Things started out a little awkward at first, but eventually it started to feel like it would when we normally hang out, but this time we didn't have to hold back on some things we couldn't say before," Casey paused and then finished telling Alex all about her night. "And just as I was about to enter my building, she called my name, came up, and kissed me. It was quite possibly the best kiss of my entire life."
"I'm happy for you guys," Alex told her. "You know you need to thank Liv when she wakes up, right?"
"What do you mean?" Casey asked.
"If it hadn't been for Liv telling Abbie to call you when she did, who knows how long it would have taken to get you two together," Alex explained.
Casey chuckled. "Yeah I guess I do, huh? What's her favorite flower? I figure that's a good start."
"No, flowers. An invite to the wedding will be thanks enough," came the gravelly voice of the third person in the room.
Both attorneys' heads snapped to the head of the bed. "LIV!"
