Chapter Eleven - Olivia's Serene Dream

Bellevue Hospital, 1998.

The hospital was crowded as usual on a Christmas Night in New York City. Young Detective Olivia Benson enters the emergency room and stumbles upon a room full of sick people. She walks in from the entrance door and bumps into two paramedics wheeling in a patient. They gesture for her to make room. It was a quaint but hectic emergency room with an entrance and exit door adjacently close. The other way out was down a seemingly long hall that appeared to be staff only. She gazes at the sick patients, visitors, and some of the janitorial staff. Bullet wounds, stab wounds, heart attacks, strokes, coughing, broken bones, fevers, etc, etc. She spots a familiar face coming into the ER from the long hallway.

Liv couldn't figure out how she knew this person. The person is a nurse so maybe she's seen her around the hospital before.

"M.J Prince?" The nurse's eyes search for the patient with that name and a little boy and his mother approaches.

"This is M.J, " the kid's mother answers with a clipboard in hand. The kid was no older than six and his little face was so red.

"The doctor is ready to see him now, can you please come with me." The nurse grabs the clipboard with fill out sheets clipped on. The mother picks up her son and begins following the nurse.

Quickly, Liv rushes towards the nurse before she gets too far. "Excuse me," Liv says loudly. The nurse hears her and turns her attention towards Liv. "Yes," the nurse replies. Liv flashes her badge, "I'm detective Benson. You call about a rape?" Another nurse passes by and the woman instructs the mother and kid to follow the other nurse. When they leave, the nurse leads Liv to an examination room.

"Where's my victim?" She notices the empty room.

"Another nurse took her down for X-rays.. She'll be back shortly.."

"X-rays?... Did you already perform the rape kit?"

"We didn't want to take a chance... He did a number on her and we had to see if she had any internal bleeding... She wouldn't tell us her name either. Maybe you'll have better luck."

Liv agrees. "She say who it was?"

"Just that he was white.. Wore a mask.. Creep grabbed her after taking a short cut home."

"Where was this?"

"Hudson... She teaches there. Looks young enough to be a student there.. Although you have to wonder.. Why was she working that late and on Christmas?"

"Whatever reasons she had for working on Christmas and being out so late has nothing to do with why she was raped."

"You're right."

The nurse's face tells Liv that she was a victim as well. Liv sits on the hospital bed while the nurse sits in the rolling chair, in close range. They sit quietly for a while. She keeps awkwardly gazing at the nurse. When the nurse catches Liv's eye, Liv is somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry, I feel like I know you," Liv confesses. "I've worked here for well over 30 years.. Alice Parker." The woman holds out her hand to greet Liv. For some reason, that name is also familiar but Liv still couldn't figure out why.

After a few more minutes, the other nurse rolls in the victim. The victim looks young. Twenty-one or Twenty-two. Alice was right, the guy really did a number on the poor vic. Alice and the other nurse helps the going woman get into the hospital bed. Liv and gets out of there way. The rape victim's face is too battered and too bruised to be recognizable.

"Hey there. I'm Detective Olivia Benson, can you tell me your name sweetie," Liv asks after the nurses settle her victim into bed.

"A detective? .. Are you going to arrest him?" The victim says sorrowfully.

"I promise you we will do everything we can to catch the man who did this to you." Liv pulls a chair and sits by the victims side while the unknown nurse steps out.

"I drew him.." The victim whispers, clinging to her necklace.

"Excuse me?" Liv questions.

"On the way here.. In the ambulance. I asked one of the paramedics for a sheet of paper and a pencil.."

"You told nurse Parker that your attacker wore a mask?"

The victim's eyes land on Liv. Her eyes were so familiar. So haunting. A familiar face like Alice but much more painful and much more personal.

"No, I saw him.." The victim pulls out a drawing sketch of the perp. "Here he is." Liv grabs the sketch out of the victim's hands. Alice Parker observes.

Before looking at the picture, Liv asks, "Can you tell us your name honey?"

The woman tries to sit up to be clear when she answers, "Serena Benson."

Liv's eyes open wide with shock. She instantly and impulsively gazes away from the woman and towards the picture. The rapist face was terrifying. It was all too odd. Was she dreaming? Her mother was dead?

Then it all dawns on her... Alice Parker isn't a nurse. She's dead. Serena Benson wasn't in her twenties. She's dead. And the rapist couldn't have possibly known her mother. The rapist wasn't even born when Serena was raped. But in this strange dream sequence, her mothers monster was also her monster. William Lewis.

To Be Continued...