Attention Readers! I often come up with little ideas to write about but they're usually never enough for full stories, only one-shots, so I was thinking about maybe posting a series of Elliot one-shots (each with different original love interest characters and plots). And I was wondering if you guys would be interested in reading them? I'm still fairly new to this site, so I'm not sure if that is something that would work well on the site, so I'd love some feedback or input about the idea! Feel free to send me a message about it! Thanks! &*

The next morning, Elliot woke early with a smile on his face. Despite the events of the night before, he had high hopes for the day ahead of them, as he had devised a possible plan that might get Lana on the right track.

"Lana, baby," he cooed in her ear as he moved her curls out of her face. "Wake up."

Her eyelashes fluttered open softly, revealing her sleepy brown eyes.

"What time is it?" She tiredly asked as her body still ached with exhaustion.

"A little after seven," he answered.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why are you waking me up at the butt-crack of dawn?"

He chuckled a little. "I want to take you somewhere."

"Where?" She asked.

"It's a surprise," he replied. "I want to show you something special to me."

"Why?"

"Because," he laughed. "It'll be fun, and I think you'll enjoy it. It'll be something good for the two of us to do together."

She sighed. "You're lucky you're cute."

"I know," he said with a smirk. "Now get up!"

She groaned but did as he instructed.

The two showered together quickly then got dressed. Elliot was ready in a matter of minutes, but in typical girl fashion, Lana took a bit longer.

He sat on her bed, waiting patiently as she continued to get dressed in the bathroom. He didn't want to bring up the topic of drugs if he didn't have to, but he wanted her to remain sober for the rest of the day, so he listened closely to her movements so he would hear her if she began preparing any type of drug.

Little did he know, Lana had already swallowed three white pills. He expected to either hear the crushing of cocaine or the rolling of a joint, so her actions went right over his head.

The pills were only Xanax, a medicine she was prescribed, but she tripled her dosage. She decided not to do any street drugs, because Elliot could always tell when she was high, and she wanted to avoid any confrontation after the incredible love they made the night before. But she still had a hard time getting through the day sober, so she took the less obvious way to get high and tripled up her dosage to keep her mind calm.

Once she was ready, the two headed out the building, passing Dennis, who was thrilled to see the couple together again and seemingly happy. They hopped in Elliot's car and made a fairly short drive through the city.

Lana was excited to see where Elliot was so eager to take her. She had absolutely no idea where they were heading, but she imagined it had to be some place good if he woke her up at seven o'clock in the morning for it.

When they arrived at their destination and parked the car, Lana glanced over at him confused.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, unable to find a connection between the building and Elliot.

"You'll see," he told her as he got out of the car, smiling. She did the same then followed him into the building.

They took an elevator to the ninth floor. For a moment, Elliot prayed that his plan would be successful and that he had thought it through enough to execute it properly. He prayed that she would enjoy their day and take up a new, productive hobby, which would hopefully put her on the right track.

When the mechanical doors opened, Lana's eyes fell onto a large banner than hung from the ceiling. It looked happy with bright colors, but the words written in large letters made her heart sink into her chest:

MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER:

PEDIATRIC UNIT

She immediately grew uncomfortable and nervous as she followed Elliot out of the elevator.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked with a hushed voice. "This is where you take me? This is fun and special?"

Elliot ignored her frantic questions as he walked up to the front desk that was guarding two large doors.

"Good morning, Elliot! I wasn't expecting you today!" The older nurse greeted from behind the counter. "Checking in with a guest?"

"Yes, please," he answered with a nod, still smiling.

The nurse handed him two visitor passes, one he clipped to his shirt and the other he clipped to Lana's. He thanked her and walked toward the two large doors.

"Seriously, what are we doing here?" Lana asked, still with a hushed voice. "I don't get it. Kids with cancer are not what I consider fun."

He turned to face her, figuring he better explain himself before she got too upset. He had been very vague from the start, but only because he didn't think she would agree to it otherwise. Boy was he right.

"No one knows about this, but when I'm struggling with a particularly bad case at work, I come here," he told her with seriousness in his eyes. "It makes me feel better. It's still difficult, these kids are still in tough situations, but it's an extreme on the opposite end. They're battling something just as traumatizing as the kids I work with, but these kids have so much hope and optimism, and it gives me hope and optimism – mostly for my victims, because sometimes I worry that those kids won't be okay. Even if it's false hope, coming here just makes me feel better. And it gives me a better perspective on life."

Lana couldn't speak. She could barely even move. She had never seen a depth in Elliot like that and it made her want to cry. She suddenly didn't recognize him, but in a good way.

He didn't wait for a response from her. He just turned around and walked through the large doors. Lana stayed where she was, still stunned by his speech to her.

She heard a bunch of tiny little voices screech, "ELLIOT!" on the other side of the door. She took a deep breath, prepared herself for heartache, and walked through the doors.

The room she walked into was brightly colored. There were many hospital beds and curtains and televisions surrounded by small children running around. Everything was small and colorful.

She stood by the door at first, observing her surroundings and taking everything in.

Elliot was a few feet away, kneeling down on the ground as a handful of children surrounded him. He maintained a genuine smile on his face, which made the children flock to him. One thing he learned from having kids is that they like happy people.

One by one, the children fluttered away from him, getting back to their playing, but a little girl wearing a princess dress over her hospital gown, sat on his knee, talking to him. Lana couldn't hear what they were saying, but the little girl smiled and laughed at Elliot's words to her.

Though Lana was prepared for a depressing scene, what she saw actually made her heart happy. And she adored seeing Elliot like that. She figured he'd be great with kids – hell, after four kids, he should be great with them – but she wasn't expecting her ovaries to nearly explode from how adorable it was.

He looked up at her and waved her over. She smiled and walked over to where he was kneeling with the child. He motioned for her to kneel down to their level and she did.

"Lana, this is Sophia," Elliot introduced.

"Hi Sophia," Lana smiled at her.

"Hi," the child shyly responded. "Your hair is pretty."

Lana chuckled a little. "Thank you. Your dress is pretty – I really like it."

"Thanks." Sophia smiled. "I'm a princess."

"I see that," Lana replied. "You're a very pretty princess."

Elliot smiled as he watched the two interact. He had never seen Lana with children before and honestly didn't know how she felt about them, so he was glad to see her acting so appropriate with the little girl.

They spent the entire morning with the children in the pediatric unit of the cancer center. They colored and painted with Sophia, who had a rare form of leukemia. They played basketball with a boy named Ryan, who had a brain tumor. And they building a huge Lego tower with a little boy named Christopher and a little girl named Annabelle, both had neuroblastomas.

Though each child's story nearly ripped her heart into shreds, Lana was impressed by their positive attitudes and good natures. Most of these children were nearing their deathbeds, but it appeared as if they weren't even sick. After paying all their hospital and doctor bills, most of their families had very little to live on, but they were still thriving.

That day opened Lana's eyes greatly. These kids had nothing, not even their health, yet they were still so happy. Lana had everything, including her health, yet she was so unhappy.

The drive back to her apartment was silent at first. Elliot wondered if he did a good thing by bringing her to the hospital. He silently cursed himself for not realizing the plan could backfire – bringing her to hang out with kids with cancer could've only made her more depressed. He prayed the kids would give her hope and strength, as they did to him, but he couldn't guarantee it.

Just as he was beginning to think that her silence was a bad sign, Lana took a deep breath beside him.

"I want to go with you when you go back," she stated softly.

Elliot looked over at her, surprised by her statement, and noticed she was staring at the painting that Sophia had made for her. He smiled. He wouldn't know for a while if his plan had worked or not, but he felt like maybe he found something productive and positive for Lana to do with her time. And maybe it would help turn her life around.