Emma was sitting quietly by the window sill when she got home, her eyes focused on something Olivia couldn't see. "How was she," Olivia asked Julia, pulling off her jacket and scarf before hanging them up.
"Fine," Julia said, "She worked on her homework with her tutor, then I went to get some lunch while Alexei stayed with her for awhile. She was a little anxious this morning, but she was just fine after lunch."
"That's good," Olivia said, walking over to Emma. "Will you back tomorrow?'
"Yeah. We managed to settle it so I'll be the main nurse working with Emma," Julia said, tugging on her jacket. "I'll be by tomorrow at the same time."
"Okay," Olivia said, "Have a good night."
"You too, Ms. Benson," Julia said. Olivia watched her leave, then sat down beside Emma, watching her look out the window.
"Whatcha lookin' at," Olivia asked softly.
"Just watching," Emma said, looking over at her with a soft smile. Olivia smiled back, reaching over to brush some wayward strands from her face. "Can we go to the park?"
"It's getting cold outside," Olivia said, looking at the people who hugged their jackets closer to their bodies.
"I don't care. Please," Emma asked, "I've been stuck in here all day."
"Go get a sweater on," Olivia said, finally giving in. Emma grinned and hopped up, running for her bedroom and threw on a zip up sweater.
Olivia sat next to Emma on the swings, watching as the teenager swung high in the air, the cool breeze running through her auburn curls. She smiled softly, lifting her own legs and pumping herself into the air. She reached Emma's height, grinning as the girl pushed herself further and further in the air, finally jumping off and landing in the sand. Olivia jumped to, landing with a grunt and laughing as she rolled over on her back in the sand. "You hungry," Olivia asked, propping herself up and looking at Emma, who was still on her back and laughing.
"Yeah," Emma said, turning her head to face her.
"Alright," Olivia said. "Girl's night? Or should we invite Elliot?"
"Mmmm, just girls, then maybe he can come over for a movie," Emma said, pushing herself up and brushing herself off.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Olivia said, getting up and brushing her hands on her jeans.
"How did your tutoring go today," Olivia asked as they sat down at their table to wait for their food.
"It was good," Emma said, "Finally got to proofs today."
"That's great," Olivia said, "Did you have a good session with Alexei?"
"Alexei didn't come today," Emma said, taking a sip of her coke. She looked around, blinking, a confused look clouding her face as she looked out the window.
"I talked to him earlier today and he said you two talked for quite awhile," Olivia said, confusion clouding her face.
"He didn't," Emma said, shaking her head, "Jules was with me the whole day." She looked down as the pager buzzed, letting them know their burgers were ready. "I'll go get the food!" Olivia watched as she bounced up and ran over to the counter to retrieve their meal.
Elliot sat next to Olivia, the movie flickering dimly on the screen. Emma was crashed out next to Olivia, her head in her lap. Olivia absentmindedly ran her fingers through her hair, her attention focused elsewhere. Elliot looked over and saw her staring blankly at the screen and reached over to touch her hand. "Wanna talk about what's on your mind," he asked gently.
"I had a late lunch today with Alexei. He said he and Emma had a good morning session," she said.
"Then what's the problem," he asked, turning to face her.
"Emma said he didn't come by today." Olivia said, looking down at Emma as she slept. She reached back and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and covered Emma gently with it.
"Why would he…or she lie?" He stretched his arm out along the back of the couch, twisting so she could g et comfortable against him.
"I don't know," she said, shrugging. "She was happy today, though. We went to the park and got dinner…she didn't shy away once."
"Maybe she just needed to get away from that place," Elliot said.
"Maybe. Still doesn't explain the thing with Alexei," Olivia said. "I'll probably talk to Jules tomorrow, see what she says." He nodded, watching as she yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
"I should get going. Need help getting Em to bed," he asked, shifting away from the couch.
"I'm awake," Emma said sleepily, moving away from Olivia's lap and pushing herself up. "El leaving?"
"Yeah," Elliot said, "Head on to bed. Maybe we can go to lunch later on during the week."
"Okay," Emma said, yawning. She sleepily held her arms out, hugging him before reaching for Moose and dragging herself off to her bed.
Elliot smiled, watching her leave and reached for his jacket, shrugging it on. "You okay to drive tonight," Olivia asked, noticing his sluggish movements.
"Yeah," he said, "Just tired. You good for the night?"
"Yeah," she said, "See you tomorrow."
"See you." He paused for a moment, studying her as she hugged her sweater closer, to ward off the chill of hallway. Her hair fell in loose waves around her face, her eyes soft with sleep. He felt his heart race as his eyes met hers, then a sharp pain when he thought of her with Alexei.
"El, you okay," Olivia asked, noticing his pause.
"Yeah," he said, "Just got lost in thought. I'll see you tomorrow." She nodded, watching him go with a curious glance, closing the door behind him and locking the door securely.
Julia arrived early the next morning to find Olivia mostly ready to go and Emma at the kitchen table, eating breakfast and reading Hamlet. "You look pretty intense there, kiddo," Julia said, sitting across from her.
"Just reading," Emma said with a shrug. "I like this book."
"I brought the movie to watch this afternoon," Julia said. "Your teacher wanted to borrow it to show you."
"Cool," Emma said, looking up.
"Julia, could I speak to you for a minute," Olivia asked, walking out of her bedroom. The nurse nodded and walked back to the older woman's room.
"Julia, did Alexei come by yesterday," Olivia asked, turning to the younger nurse.
"Yeah," Julia said, "He came around eleven and stayed with Em while I had lunch with a friend."
"Okay," Olivia said, running her hand through her hair.
"Why? Did something happen," Julia asked, crossing her arms and chewing on her lip.
"Emma told me yesterday that he didn't come by," Olivia said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Maybe she forgot," Julia suggested.
"She seemed pretty adamant about it," Olivia said, reaching for her jacket. "Let me know if something else happens today, she forgets something or anything out of the oridinary. Call my cell the minute something out of the norm happens. Okay?"
"Yeah. Not a problem," Julia said. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah. I just want to make sure the medicine's not making her black out periods of time," Olivia said, half telling the truth. Julia nodded, following Olivia out of the bedroom and back into the kitchen.
"You going to be late tonight," Emma asked, looking up at Olivia as she entered.
"Nope," Olivia said, "You, Elliot and I re going to see a movie with Liz and Dickie. You up for being in public tonight?"
"I think so," Emma said with a shrug.
"Good," Olivia said, running her hands through Emma's hair. "I've gotta get to work. Call me if you need anything."
"Okay," Emma said, hugging Olivia around her waist. Olivia pressed a kiss to her forehead and grabbed her gun and badge before heading out the door.
"Julia said Alexei did show up yesterday," Olivia said, sitting down at her desk.
"And Em still saying he didn't," Elliot asked, leaning back, his hands clasped behind his head.
"Yeah," Olivia said. "I don't know why she would lie."
"Maybe it's the meds," Elliot suggested.
"Maybe, but she's been on this new stuff for a few weeks now," Olivia said, turning her computer on.
"She meet with Huang this week?"
"Tomorrow. Maybe he can figure this out," Olivia said, sighing. "What've we got today?"
"Interviewing a vic," Elliot said, "Speaking of which, we better head out." Olivia nodded, grabbing her jacket and following Olivia out the door.
Julia listened from the kitchen as Alexei spoke with Emma in his soft and calming voice. She got up and stirred the soup in the pot before returning to the kitchen table to read her book.
She shook awake, her heart racing as she sat up, sniffing the air. Turning to the stove, she saw the soup had burned to the bottom of the pot. Cursing under her breath, she turned the stove off and began to rinse out the rest, leaving it to soak with soap. She walked into the living room and found Emma sitting at the table quietly, working on her homework.
"Alexei leave," Julia asked, stretching.
"Yeah," Emma said, looking up. "Is lunch ready yet? I thought I smelled something burning."
"Yeah. I must've fallen asleep," Julia said. "You want to run out and get some pizza? I could use some air."
"Could we spend the afternoon in the park? We don't have to stay long, wince it's getting cold," Emma said.
"Yeah," Julia said, "A picnic would be good. Go get a jacket on and I'll get a blanket for us." Emma nodded eagerly and went to put on a sweater for the park.
They sat on the blanket, eating sandwiches and drinking hot tea to ward off the afternoon chill. "So Em, you like living with Olivia," Julia asked, stretching out next to her on the blanket.
"Yeah. It beats the hospital, and she's nice," Emma said.
"Have you been doing alright? I mean, with the meds and everything," Julia asked.
"I guess so," Emma said, shrugging. She reached for half of her sandwich and took a bite, a thoughtful look on her face.
"You guess so? What's that mean?"
"I dunno. I just…I feel like there's these gaps on time, where I can't remember stuff," Emma said, looking down at her sandwich.
"Has this happened recently," Julia asked, straightening up.
"I don't remember yesterday," Emma said softly.
"What do you mean," Julia asked, reaching over and touching her hand gently. Emma recoiled slightly, then relaxed, taking another bite of her sandwich.
"I mean, I remember Olivia leaving and reading with Sarah for class. I remember you leaving, to meet a friend for lunch, then nothing until I went to dinner with Olivia," Emma said, wrapping the rest of her sandwich up and setting it aside.
"Did you talk to Olivia about this," Julia asked, cocking her head to the side.
"No," Emma said softly.
"Em, she needs to know about stuff like this. You've never been afraid to talk to her before," Julia pointed out gently.
"I know," Emma said, looking down.
"Finish lunch, then we'll read for awhile," Julia said, nudging a container of fruit towards Emma. Emma took the fruit and opened the container, taking out a few pieces and chewing slowly.
Olivia arrived home at a quarter past five to find Julia pacing nervously in the living room. "Hey, everything okay," Olivia asked, putting her keys on the table.
"You might want to talk to Emma," Julia said, walking up to her.
"Why? Is she okay? Did something happen?" She quickly shed off her jacket, wallet and gun, heading quickly for Emma's room, stopping when she felt the young woman touch her arm.
"Just…when you talk to her? The same thing happened to me," Julia said softly. She saw the confusion in Olivia's eyes and let go of her arm before shrugging on her jacket and leaving.
Olivia found Emma laying huddled up on her bed, a blanket wrapped tight around her. "Hey," Olivia said softly. "Julia said you wanted to talk to me." She reached out and touched Emma's back gently, recoiling when Emma pulled away from her. "C'me on honey, talk to me."
"You'll be mad at me," Emma said, her voice shaking with emotion. Olivia sighed, laying down next to Emma and reaching over to turn her facing herself. She brushed the hair from her face gently and tilted her chin up to face her. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I didn't talk to you," Emma said softly.
"Do I look mad to you," Olivia said, keeping her voice gentle. She sought out her eyes with her own, letting out a small sigh of relief when she saw Emma's eyes meet her own.
"No," Emma said, uncurling a little.
"Then talk to me," Olivia said, her voice pleading. Emma's eyes dropped as she pulled herself closer to Olivia's body. "Please, talk to me honey. You're scaring me." She pressed her cheek to Emma's hair, holding her close and rubbing her back gently.
"I don't remember yesterday," Emma said, her voice so soft Olivia strained to hear it.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I don't remember anything from when Julia left until you and I were at dinner last night," Emma said. "Nine hours that are gone. It was light when I blacked out and when we were at dinner, it was dark." Olivia felt wetness against her skin and rubbed Emma's back as she cried against her, then loosened her grip as Emma tilted her head up to look at her. "What happened during that time?"
"Alexei came and visited you," Olivia began to explain, "You spent a couple of hours with him, then Julia came back and you were with her until I got home at a little past five. Then, you and I went to the park and dinner."
"Nothing bad happened," Emma asked, looking up at her.
"Nothing bad happened," Olivia said, trying to reassure her. "Honey, it might be the medication you're on. We'll talk to George tomorrow. Maybe he can help you figure this out?"
"Can he help me remember," Emma asked, her head tilting up to face her. "I mean, something…anything…aside from the hypnosis." Olivia paused, stroking Emma's face gently while she thought. Her mind drifted to the drip they had recently given a girl in their case to help her remember her actions during a drug trip.
"Liv?" Emma's soft voice broke her out of her thoughts and she looked down to see the teenager studying her quietly. "There's another way…isn't there?"
"Yeah," Olivia said, running her hand along her cheek. "I'll need to talk to George first, though, to make sure it won't hurt you."
"I don't care. If it'll help me remember, then I want to do it. I don't care if it'll hurt me," Emma said, her voice suddenly strong and defiant.
"What good is it if it'll kill you," Olivia asked, her eyes meeting Emma's in a stare.
"When are we supposed to meet Elliot and his kids," Emma asked, changing the subject.
"We're not going. Katie's Liz and Dickie both came down with something at school today," Olivia said. "We'll go another night. However, I thought you and I could go see a movie instead. You up for that?" Emma nodded, climbing off the bed to change and get ready.
Olivia lay on the bed, listening to Emma rustle around and get ready. She felt a heaviness in her heart as she thought about putting Emma on drugs to help her remember and absolute dread at what the teen might really remember.
