Chapter 26

Elliot nearly fell of the cot when the phone rang. He was at the precinct, sleeping in the crib after working late. Cragen was frustrated that he had come in, but burying himself in paperwork was the only thing keeping him sane, which was ironic because normally he avoided it at all costs. He fumbled for his cell phone, staring at the number. He didn't recognize it, but he could see it was long-distance. He groaned and reluctantly flipped open his cell phone. "Stabler." His voice was thick with sleep.

"Elliot…it's me," Olivia nearly sobbed into the phone, so relieved to hear his voice.

"Olivia? What happened, where are you?" Elliot jumped up, fully awake now and headed to his locker to get his coat.

"I'm in West Virginia, in the hospital." She didn't think she had the strength to explain what had happened.

With the help of Jane Olivia managed to give Elliot directions to the hospital. It would take a while for him to arrive, but she wouldn't be discharged from the hospital for a day or two anyway. Elliot scribbled down the directions, and reluctantly hung up the phone, finding it ironic that he almost hadn't answered. Then he raced into Cragen's office, struggling to get his coat on in his haste. "Taking time off, Olivia called, be back soon."

"Wait! Did you just say Olivia called?" Cragen thought he must have made a mistake.

"Yeah, she's in West Virginia, I gotta go pick her up," he said. Cragen shook his head, completely lost for words. Elliot just shook his head and raced off. "Call me at your first rest stop!" He shouted, and Elliot waved a hand on his way out to acknowledge that he had heard him.

Elliot pounded on Sheila's door five minutes later. Etienne opened the door and Elliot just walked inside. Sheila stood up, looking concerned. "Elliot, what's wrong?"

"She's alive, she called, she's in West Virginia," he said, unable to get his words out fast enough, a grin spreading over his face, mirrored by Sheila's grin.

"Are you coming?" She asked Etienne, grabbing her coat and her keys. She didn't need any further explanation from Elliot; there would be time for that in the car.

Etienne faltered for a moment, unsure, but quickly gave in and grabbed his own coat. His relationship with Sheila had been in trouble ever since Kyle had died and now she actually looked happy. He wouldn't miss out on this trip with her, even if they wouldn't be alone. "When will we arrive in West Virginia?" He asked on the way out.

"Tomorrow probably, we'll stay in a hotel somewhere on the way," Elliot replied, leading the way down the stairs and into the car. "I gotta make a stop somewhere before we leave the city, though."

He parked the car and left Sheila and Etienne while he walked into the building and checked the address scribbled on the piece of paper. He looked at the list of names and buzzed the apartment when he saw the right name. "Who is it?"

"Elliot Stabler, I'm Olivia's partner," he said into the speaker. There was no reply, but he heard the distinct sound of the door being unlocked. He pulled it open and headed upstairs, knocking on the door of the apartment he had written down.

"Uh, hi. Elliot, right? I don't mean to sound rude, but why are you here?"

"It's Shawn, right?" He nodded. "Olivia asked me to come," he said.

"Olivia? When?"

"About 20 minutes ago. She called."

"I thought…what?" He was completely confused.

"She wanted me to tell you she's alive, since she probably won't be home for a few days. I don't know how long you two have been together, or how much you care about her, and that's really none of my business, but she obviously cares enough about you to ask me to come here. She said she would have called, but she could only make one call at the time. Anyway, that's all I wanted."

"She, uh…get her to call me when as soon as she can," he said, her eyes shining with tears. Elliot nodded and left the building.

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

Olivia felt better knowing Elliot was on his way, hopefully with Sheila, though she dreaded the moment when she would have to tell them what happened. The images still haunted her over and over again, and she found herself bursting into tears at random throughout the day. Once, the nurse had come to change the bandage on her shoulder and check the wound. She had commented that it was a nasty cut, and Olivia had flashed back to Jack's dead body, his neck ravaged by her own makeshift weapon, and she had burst into tears. The nurse had felt horrible, and Olivia had had to assure her that she hadn't done anything wrong (once she finished sobbing, of course).

Now it was early morning and Jane slipped into the room quietly. "Oh, you're awake. I brought you some breakfast; the food here is just awful." She set a brown bag on the table next to Olivia's bed.

"You really didn't have to do that," Olivia said, but her mouth was already watering at the sight.

"Oh, nonsense, you're never going to get better eating the garbage in this place. Go on, enjoy." She smiled that kind smile that made her eyes shine, the smile that warmed Olivia's heart as if she were a child again despite the fact the Jane was probably Olivia's age, give or take a few years.

Olivia took the bag, sitting up on her bed and pulled out the contents. Inside were various Tupperware containers with an omelette, toast accompanied by a small container of jam and fresh-squeezed orange juice that Jane had made herself. "Jane, this looks delicious, thanks!" She wolfed down the omelette hungrily, and then took her time with the toast, realizing how rude she was being.

Jane just laughed. "Relax, Olivia, we're both adults here, no need for any sort of formalities. I live with two boys, after all."

"I'm surrounded by men all day. I like to think my manners are still intact, but I'm probably kidding myself."

"It must be tough, working in such a male-dominated field."

"It's not so bad once you get to detective. It's the uniform that I really hated; they're designed to eliminate any sign of femininity."

"So what unit are you in?"

"Special Victims," Olivia said, wondering if Jane had any idea what that meant.

"Sex crimes, right?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"My brother's a detective. He works homicide, but he used to work in SVU. He made it for 6 years. I can't imagine working there for a day, never mind 6 years. How long have you been working there?"

"A decade," she replied, a smile actually creeping onto her face.

"Wow," she said in true amazement. They both laughed. "So were you working a case when you were…kidnapped?" She was reluctant to ask, but she couldn't hold in her curiosity anymore.

"I really don't understand why any of it happened and it doesn't really matter to me right now," Olivia said, an edge creeping into her voice.

"I'm really sorry, I don't mean to pry. Forget I asked."

Olivia sighed. "It's okay. By the end of the week I'll have told the story about five times and written it out at least once, so I'm really not in the mood to start now. All of this, though – not just the food, just being here – I really appreciate it." Jane smiled again and Olivia felt a little warmth return to her.