Olivia Benson hated the hospital. No, she despised the hospital, she loathed it with every fiber of her being. The hospital was a signal of weakness and she felt every time she walked in, she walked out with one less person in her life. And that might have been the worse feeling of all.
Yet, here she was. Stupid car accident.
After much protest, even through the horrible pain she felt, she was brought in by ambulance and was laying in her room in the ER. The doctor had yet to see her and the nurse had been in a few times to take her vitals and splint her arm and shoulder. She also taped up most of the ribs on her right side. And if Olivia didn't get this entirely unnecessary neck collar off, was going to lose her mind.
The nurse comes in once more and says, "The line for your Lodox scan is longer than I expected, I'm so sorry for the wait. But in the meantime, you have a visitor, would you like me to send him in?" She had previously explained the Lodox as basically a full-body X-Ray machine.
"Sure." Olivia was attempting and mostly failing to scroll through her inbox, hoping this wouldn't interfere too much with the major business deal she was heading up. She knew it was a false reality but still hoped and prayed anyway. The hotel merger was all that any Cassidy Crane employee talked about. She was the project manager and if this went through successfully, there was a very nice promotion in store.
And lo and behold, Elliot Joseph Stabler was standing in front of her.
"Liv," He sighed out, running a hand through his hair. Instantly, she had flashbacks of every time he'd done the nervous tick when they were together.
She just stared at him for a moment, thinking the pain medication they'd given her was making her hallucinate her college boyfriend. "What are you doing here?" Olivia finally sputtered incredulously, sitting up a little more in the bed. "How'd you find me? How'd you know?"
"Apparently I'm still your emergency contact. I got a call from my NYPD contact saying you'd been a car accident. I swear, I left so fast. The principal is now subbing my class." Elliot says and Olivia realizes the past five years seems to have treated him well.
"You didn't have to. I didn't even know I hadn't changed it after all these years, it's just a few scrapes and I broke my arm. Happens every day." Olivia says,
"You're in a neck collar and by the way you're breathing, you probably broke some ribs. You are not ok. Let me help you, Liv. I know we haven't talked in forever but let me help. I don't know about you, but you're still my friend." Elliot smiles warmly and pulls the small, circular spinning chair towards the side of the bed.
Olivia sighed, knowing he was right. "Once a boy scout, always a boy scout." She finally laughed, remembering how at one point, she'd craved his company like there'd been no tomorrow.
"Who's the lucky man? That's certainly a big rock." Elliot says, after going to take her hand, but by the powers that be, he refrains.
"Evan Cassidy. Yes, that Cassidy." Olivia continues, seeing the look of surprise on Elliot's face.
"Well, you've certainly done well for yourself. I teach third grade Special Ed at Conner Elementary, hence the tie-dye shirt. It was Spirit Day."
"Look at you, Mr. Teacher Man." Olivia laughs, suddenly seeing how much working with children fits Elliot.
"I try, that's all. And I know nothing, there's teachers at Conner who've been there for thirty years. I'm not doing anything too spectacular." Elliot tells who he used to think would've lived all this with him. 'Used to' being the key phrase there. But teachers make next to nothing and she works at Cassidy Crane. Who'd want to give that up?
"Alright, alright, enough about me. Tell me what you've been up to the last five years. God, Liv, can you believe it's been that long?"
"Yeah, I kinda can. Everything and nothing have happened at the same time." Olivia sighs, "I got out of business school, worked my way up at Cassidy Crane, I'm engaged, Evan and I have a dog named Yoda. Just life, nothing more, nothing less."
"Nothing more, nothing less? Come on. My last five years have solely consisted of adorable kids and bad dates and spending entirely too much money of school supplies. Oh, and family dinners."
"Ah, the Stabler family dinner table. That is certainly an intimidating place to be-three generations of law enforcement. You definitely don't want to tick anyone off because then the full force of the NYPD will be behind them." Olivia laughs, remembering her times around the mahogany table.
"Oh, come on, my family isn't that bad." Elliot scoffs playfully,
"Remember the code blue? Who in the world decided that was a good idea?!" Olivia points out,
"You're still salty about that? And we code blue'd them back!" Elliot says,
"Did you just say 'salty'? What are you, twelve?" Olivia laughs, her phone pinging multiple times,
"Yeah, pretty much. The kids keep me pop cultured." Elliot runs a hand through his hair again and Olivia swears you could see her heart rate go up on the monitor.
Suddenly, the curtains to the room fly open, "Liv! My God! Are you ok? I came as soon as I heard. I knew I should've driven you!" Evan Cassidy, tailored suit and all, rushes to her side, placing several kisses on her temple.
A surge of jealously shot through Elliot. Only he was able to call her Liv. It was their thing. It was harder than he'd anticipated to watch her with another man…even if it had been five years.
"Evan, ow, I'm-I'm fine. I just broke my arm and cracked a rib, it's really not that big of a deal. It'll heal in a few months, and I'll be back to new." She smiles, easing back slightly,
"Well that jerk should've looked where he was going! Did you give the police your statement yet?" Elliot could literally see the cartoon dollar signs flashing above his head. Cassidy Crane suit through and through.
"Apparently, I was unconscious for a bit. The nurse said the police will take my statement later, at least before I leave the hospital." Maybe someone else wouldn't have noticed it, but Liv was different with Evan, like she was able to put different personas on. But maybe that's just how it is in the business world.
"They can definitely expect a call from the company lawyers; they're not getting away with this one." Evan says forcefully, reaching for his phone. Liv reaches across the bed with her good arm and stops him.
"Come on, babe, no one's mortally wounded, let's not ruin someone's life here. Nobody's going to beat company lawyers. You know how they work." She pleads, and Elliot could feel his temper rising. He understood protective fiancés but this Evan guy was really rubbing him the wrong way. All dollar signs, no humanity.
"If that's what you really want. But the option's always there." Evan's arm is snuggly around Liv's and he just kind of stares at Elliot.
"I'm Elliot, an old friend of Liv's. There was an emergency contact mix up. Evan, Elliot, you know." He tries to play the situation as gently as he could, knowing Evan seemed the jealous type and Elliot prayed for the person on the other end of his wrath.
"Oh, ok. Well, I'll be sure to try and get in touch if there's any more updates." Evan said, rather curtly and after an awkward silence and some telepathic communication on their part, he decided the best thing to do was leave.
/
Two could play at that game. It wouldn't be practical to go back to Conner with only an hour left in the day. So, he decided to wait it out in the cafeteria, maybe do some exploring. He always marveled at how a hospital worked. The ease and fluidity in the midst of such chaos.
Assuming the 'hospital food is horrible' cliché to be true, he stuck with a sandwich and a bag of chips. He texted his principal, updating and thanking her immensely for taking his class. Elliot knew that the bunch, as much as he loved them, could be a handful sometimes.
Each kid had something that made them tick and Elliot had strenuously learned each one. Ari's ADHD sometimes got the better of him, so engaging lessons were a must. Lila was extremely shy and hated asking questions so he had to make sure that after class, she understood everything. Luke had to stand up or his Tourette's ticks would act up. Claire's hearing loss required captioned videos. And Addison's inhaler, Max's large-font textbooks, no flashing lights for Sadie. The list went on and he loved watching the children interact and what made them unique. It's what he found so appealing about special education. Especially the third graders he taught. When you teach a dozen eight or nine-year old's, their personalities are still forming, they're still learning about the world and there was something so satisfying about being able to help cultivate that.
"I thought I might find you here." It was Olivia's nurse from the ER.
"Yep, here I am. Is Liv ok? Is everything alright?" Elliot asked, hoping the stress wasn't as evident on his face as it was in the pit of his stomach.
"Your girl's fine. She's having her scan now. You can see her again in a few moments." Heather-he'd finally caught her name-winked, giving him a pat on his shoulder as she sat down.
"She's not my girl anymore." Elliot's heart clenched, "I'm only here because of an emergency contact mix up. I actually haven't seen her in five years."
"Oh, you keep telling yourself that. That other guy she's with, ugh, honey, he's no good." Heather says, shaking her head in a sort of disgust.
"That guy, the no good one, he's her fiancé. A lot happens in five years. Some finish business school, others become teachers."
"Ooh, child." Heather shakes her head again, "I am so sorry, for the both of you. She is gonna find out the hard way and let me tell you, the hard way sucks."
"Yep. And I'm not going to be the jerk who breaks up an engagement of the girl I'm still in love with and haven't seen in the last five years."
"I know, sweetheart. Tough positions like this will teach the both of you some lessons I'd rather you not learn but who knows, maybe it'll all work out." Heather pauses, letting her words sink in before continuing, "You said you teach. Where?"
"Special Ed at Conner Elementary." Elliot's spirits lift a little when talking of his class. He really does love them all.
"Conner, huh? My nephew, Max, should be in your class." Heather smiles wide,
"Max! Yes, he's in my class. He's such a fun kid and so smart too. They're all going to do great things, I can feel it." Elliot forgets for a moment where he is,
"All kids need a teacher like you, Elliot. All kids need to be believed in like I see you do your kiddos. I think a lot of hurt in the world would be resolved if there was just one person who said, 'you can do it' despite any differences we may have."
"Thankfully, it seems as though Max already has another one. You're doing something right, and some days I have no clue what I'm doing. Some days I'm like, 'Kids, we're going outside today'." Elliot laughs,
"You know, I pick up Max every day after school and he's told me how much he loves those days. And that you let him hold magnifying glass." Heather chuckles, returning to her feet,
"I'll have you know the magnifying glass is a coveted treasure." Elliot says, playing along how he would with any of his students,
"I'm sure it is, hon." She says knowingly, "Your girl should be back in her room now if you want to visit again. I'll make sure he's gone." The kind nurse says, giving throwing another wink his way.
"Thanks, Heather. I appreciate everything you've done." Elliot give her a warm expression, following her out of the surprisingly sparse cafeteria.
/
Olivia was sitting in her room after a rather uncomfortable scan and ruminating on her hatred of the hospital.
She still held true to the notion that every time she walked into a hospital, she walked out with one less person in her life.
Ha! And one less person she would. It seems as though now, she and Evan are on a 'break'.
Everyone knows that's just one step behind 'break up'.
Evan's capacity for jealousy and ego had always sat wrong with her but he could also be so endearing. She struggled with it often, believing it something she could control within their relationship with just the right delicate touch.
There was a knock at the door. She debated whether or not to let the person in, knowing that if it was hospital personnel, they'd come in without hesitation. She also knew that it was either Evan, begging for forgiveness or Elliot, whom she suspected never left.
While Elliot was an old chapter in her life, she wondered what would've become of it. She'd loved Elliot, she really did, but her desire for a career had selfishly overwhelmed it at the time. And now, she was with Evan. While still a shrewd workaholic, Olivia knew he was a decent person at heart.
For a moment, 'Yeah, but Elliot's an amazing person at heart' flashed through her mind, almost too quick for her to register.
And for that reason alone, she said, "Come in."
This fic got dusted off after about three years so thank you for bearing with me.
With Elliot coming back, I figured this was fitting and I realized I actually changed his personality quite a bit so I hope y'all still found that enjoyable.
I'll probably leave it at this unless I get a bunch of you wanting more!