Automatic Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Law & Order: SVU or Law & Order: OC (but they surely own me!) I don't make any kind of compensation from this work of fiction. Also a big thanks again to AlexisDawn for being my lovely BETA!
The doctor looked at Olivia, "Captain Benson" he nodded, then looked back to Elliot, "Mr. Stabler, I need you to know that what I need to share with you is very important, but personal, information."
Elliot squeezed Liv's hand, "Anything you have to say to me, can be said in front of Olivia."
"Elli-"
"No. You aren't going anywhere, end of discussion." He didn't dare look at her, knowing she wouldn't be happy.
She stared at him for a moment, shook her head, then turned back to the doctor with an amused smirk, but sobered quickly due to the serious look on his face.
"Very well Mr. Stabler. My name is Dr. Frank Powell, I am the head of the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital," he stopped to take a breath, during which Olivia squeezed Elliot's hand.
"There is no easy way to ever give this news to families. Mr. Stabler, your wife was brought in earlier this evening. She had very serious injuries, and unfortunately, she succumbed to those injuries." He waited as he heard both of them gasp, "I'm so very sorry for your loss. Do you have any questions for me right now? I will do my best to answer them."
Elliot just sat there for a minute while trying to comprehend what he had just been told. Kathy. Dead. He looked over to Olivia and seeing she had paled slightly, moved over just enough for her. It caught her attention and looked down at him. He patted the spot he had created for her, she squeezed his hand and sat down.
"Let's start with wh- what kind of injuries and what ultimately killed her," Elliot spoke up, trying to decide whether he really wanted to know or not.
"Mr. Stabler, she had very serious inj-" Dr. Powell started.
"Just tell me! Us. Please. I need to know." Elliot begged, making up his mind. Why exactly he wanted to know, he wasn't sure.
"She had a few broken bones: her right femur, pelvis, her left wrist, a couple of ribs. She had a head contusion, extensive burns all over, particularly around her abdomen. We believe she died from internal bleeding that was caused by strong blunt force trauma. She had multiple bleedings we were trying to stop at the time." He spoke clearly and maintained eye contact with Elliot. "I'm sorry there wasn't more we could do."
"How did you know that it was Kathy Stabler?" This coming from Olivia.
"When she first got here, she was in shock but was able to speak to us for a little bit. She told us who she was, which we already knew," he smiled sadly, "There were the occasional times over the years ago she would come over on loan to us when we had an overwhelming amount of patients come through. She was a great nurse." Something Kathy had mentioned came to mind to the doctor just then, "Mr. Stabler, what do you remember of this evening?"
"I remember driving to Olivia's award ceremony, it being overly stuffy inside so I went to wait for her outside, holding the door for someone. Then nothing until seeing Olivia as one of the many personnel that was outside a short time later," he was thankful Olivia was there, then and now, "Why?"
"I'll need to talk with you later, but it seems they are ready for you in CT." Dr. Powell nodded his head to the door, "Again, I am very sorry for your loss and if there is anything that I can do for you Mr. Stabler, just let one of your nurses know or have them page me directly."
Neither Olivia nor Elliot had seen the young nurse that had pulled up outside with a wheelchair but now noticed as she was checking the chart outside Elliot's room, checking the chart to be sure she had the right patient. When she was convinced it was, she turned to enter the room.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Dr. Powell, I can return later! I'm sorry!"
"Relax Hannah, Mr. Stabler needs these tests. I will be back to talk to you when your tests are finished, Mr. Stabler." with that, he walked out of the room.
"Okay!" The nurse nervously chuckled, "First, I'm going to need you to change into a hospital gown." She turned around to get it, but had forgotten it, "Oh, um, I'll go get one really quick, I'm so sorry!" She rushed out of the room.
"Are you going to need any help when she gets back El?" Olivia whispered to him.
"Maybe just a little," He sheepishly replied, "if you don't mind." He quickly added.
Liv shook her head, "No problem, that's why I'm here. As the doctor said, anything you need." She squeezed his hand and looked up as Hannah rushed back in with the gown hanging over her arm. "Can you give him a few minutes to get it on?"
"Sure. Sure. Just get me when he's ready, I'll be outside the door, to the right!" Hannah smiled, then walked out of the room.
"She reminds me of how nervous Kathy was her first month or so being a nurse," Elliot recalled chuckling. "She nearly forgot to put on her scrubs that first week or two even. I was always amused why she was so nervous, I mean, she had gone through all that schooling.." her passing finally hitting him, "God, I know we were separated, but she was still the mother of my children. I don't know how I'm going to tell them Liv. How do you tell your children that their mother died? We've given the bad news to countless families that a loved one passed away, but now that it'll be my own children. I don't know how I'm going to do it." He looked to the person that had been his rock and foundation for so many years, that he had pulled away from as though ripping off a band-aid quickly- to avoid the pain.
Another thing hit him then; he'd been away from her, for ten years, by his own doing, and yet, there she was. Listening to him ramble on about Kathy, just waiting for him to be done so she could help him put on his hospital gown. Being selfless as always. He knew she must have had plenty of things she wanted to say, but was holding back for his sake. He knew she probably had better things to be doing, had more important things to be doing. Yet, there she was.
He gingerly stood up with her help, "I never thought that the first time you'd be helping me take my clothes off, we'd be in a hospital." Elliot blurted out. It shocked them both, Olivia stopped unbuttoning his shirt to look up at him, Elliot stopped breathing for a few beats of his heart.
"I-, I never thought it would be either." She quietly returned, blushing, then quickly finished unbuttoning his shirt, suddenly stepping away, guilt written on her face.
"Liv?" He breathed. "What?" He continued in the same quiet breath. That was unexpected.
"Nothing. I could ask the same of you." She retorted quickly, but looked to him timidly, "I unbuttoned your shirt for you, you should be able to do the rest yourself until you need me to tie the back of your gown." She rushed, then turned around to give him time to finish.
"Olivia... Liv… I'm sorry. I hate to ask, but I kind of need help unbuttoning and pulling down my pants, I don't think it'd be a good idea for me to be bending down too much right now," he looked over to her, "I'm sorry." He repeatedly whispered again.
She rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself, "Of course." As she turned around to help him, she got a glimpse of his chest. She'd seen it countless times before, but this was the first time in over ten years. He was still built like a Greek god, his shoulders taught with nothing but muscle, his pecs high and strong, his stomach like a washboard. He clearly hadn't slacked off going to the gym she mused to herself.
"Okay El," she took a deep breath, "let's get you dressed down."
It only took them a minute or two to get him into the gown, "I look ridiculous." Elliot complained.
Olivia couldn't help but chuckle, "It's only for a few hours, you'll be fine. I'm going to get Hannah, take a breath El." Hannah was right where she said she'd be, so it only took a quick second for her and Olivia to come back into the room, the former wheeling a wheelchair in front of her.
"Oh no, I'm not riding in that thing," Elliot stressed as soon as he saw it.
"I'm sorry Mr. Stabler, it's hospital protocol for anybody receiving a cranial CT," Hannah explained.
"I'll be here when you get back El, I'm not going anywhere. Just maybe down to the cafeteria to get a small something to eat and drink." Olivia promised, helping him stand and then sit back into the wheelchair.
She reached for his right hand and squeezed it tightly when he willingly gave it to her. He nodded and swallowed hard, "Okay."
"You'll be okay, you're in great hands, I know these guys, okay? I promise." She looked him in the eyes, saw the question there, "Later." Then she did something unexpected -again- by both of them, she kissed his forehead. "I'll see you soon." With that, she squeezed his hand again, then sat on the bed he had just vacated as Hannah wheeled him out. Elliot looked back to her and she smiled encouragingly at him, he nervously smiled back, but nodded. He'd be okay.
Once he was out of eyesight, she took a deep breath. It was the first moment without him in what felt like ten hours, though in actuality it had only been close to two. She mentally went through everything that the day had thrown at her: The surprisingly quick open and shut case the squad had caught first thing that morning, her taking off early to spend the afternoon with Noah before having to get ready for the awards banquet, feeling as comfortable as she could about having to speak in front of countless other cops, thinking she saw Elliot, the blast, the fear she felt, going outside with half the brass to figure out what happened,
"LIV!"
She'll never forget how he yelled her name for as long as she lives she swears to herself.
"Long day?" Dr. Powell asked.
Olivia shot her head up to see him standing in the doorway. She nodded, "You could say that."
"Mind if I come in to talk with you for a minute while Mr. Stabler is away?"
"I was actually going to take a quick jog over to the cafeteria to get something to eat, something to drink, but you can follow along with me if you so choose." She countered.
He nodded, "I've got some time," he waited for her to stand, then held out his arm for her to head out before him, "after you ma'am."
"Thank you, Frank." She smiled.
As they walked towards the elevator, he voiced his first question, "Olivia… Do you believe Mr. Stabler when he says he doesn't remember anything about the blast?"
"What?! Of course, I do! Do you have reason to believe otherwise?" She stopped walking and turned to the doctor.
"I believe him, but Olivia, something Kathy said to us before she passed out has stuck with me," seeing her inquisitive look, he continued, "She swore that it was Elliot that ran up to her after she awoke briefly after the blast. That he was the one that called 9-1-1 for her. But as soon as the ambulance got there, she couldn't tell where he went, she said it hurt too bad to turn her head or to ask where he went. She thought maybe they took him to a different ambulance, but he never showed up again until he showed up an hour and a half later with you."
"So...So what are you saying?" Olivia questioned.
"Did they travel together to the awards banquet?" He answered her question with one of his own.
"Truthfully, I don't know. I don't believe so. Elliot mentioned on the bus ride here that he and Kathy were separated. I don't know for how long, we didn't get into that. You know I haven't seen him in a very long time." She talked as she started walking again, knowing the doctor would follow.
"More than ten years, right?" Frank Powell quietly asked.
Olivia nodded, "Yeah."
"Yet you're doing all of this for him: sticking by his side, helping him, making him as comfortable as you possibly can." He held up a finger for every different thing she had done so far on the night.
She couldn't help but smile as they walked into the lift, "He... He means a lot to me, even if I haven't seen him in a hot minute."
"Back to what Kathy had said... His injuries are consistent with being near the blast Olivia. Where he went after Kathy was whisked away is anyone's guess." He held his hand out to stop the doors from closing when a nurse came rushing to catch the door.
"Lexi." the doctor nodded.
"Dr. Powell. Captain Benson." The brown-haired nurse nodded and replied to the two.
Olivia smiled and nodded as her own hello.
After Lexi got off the lift two floors down, Olivia looked to Frank, "I can have my people look and see if they can find where Elliot went after Kathy's ambulance left. Because if he was near the blast, and had those injuries, why in the hell didn't the EMT's that picked her up insist he go with them?!" she hadn't realized that they had made it to the floor of the cafeteria until Dr. Powell held his arm out to keep the doors from closing again. "Sorry." She muttered as she walked off the elevator.
"No problem. And I'd like to know that answer myself, I'll do my own digging into why they didn't if you can figure out where he went." He proposed.
Nodding her head as she looked at the small selection of things the cafeteria offered. She told the attendant what she wanted, a medium-sized Cesar salad, with a bottle of water, then paid for it quickly. "I can do that. Keep me updated on what you find out too, Frank. I'm praying he has nothing too serious going on. I've thought about how he yelled my name so many times in the last few hours… I wanted to hear it countless times in the past. It still feels surreal that he's just upstairs, getting a test done. Now a widower. Separated or not, I know he's hurt by the death of Kathy. And I don't know how to help him. You've told families of the passing of their loved ones before, how do I help him?" She asked helplessly.
"Olivia… Yes, I have in fact told families about the passing of their loved one, but I'll be straight with you. I have never seen how the families handle it after I leave them. A majority of them take the news hard, but slowly start to accept it in the short time that I'm with them. And very few of them have an incredibly strong and close family friend like Stabler and his family have with you." He held up a hand, "I know you haven't talked to any of them in ten years, but just do what you're doing now with their father and they'll quickly come around I have no doubt." He had started to say something more but was cut off by his pager. After reading it, he jumped up and started running for the elevator, "Shit! I'm sorry Olivia, I've gotta go!"
"It's not Elliot is it?!" She hollered after him, her heart and lungs freezing in their place.
"No. No, far as I know he's okay. This isn't about him." He yelled back, then disappeared as he stepped into the lift and the doors closed taking him off to whatever emergency he had.
She finally took a deep breath, "It wasn't about him Benson, take a breath." She chided herself. She didn't feel like eating anymore, but her stomach growled as though it was rebutting what her brain was saying. So she ate half the salad, then guzzled a majority of the water. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, 11:55 pm it read.
She had a few missed messages, also a few missed calls, mostly from her squad asking if she was okay, but one stood out to her: Elliot. She checked the time he called, 8:30 pm. Holy shit, how had she missed that he had called and sent her a voicemail?! Oh wait, at 8:30, she was having to make friends and take pictures with the uppity brass because all of a sudden she was the one everyone wanted to know. It was twenty minutes before that she first thought she felt his eyes on her and looked up to see what she thought was his blues staring back. It wasn't even five seconds later that they were gone, out the door she presumed.
After taking another quick breath, she put in her password to her voicemail and listened.
"Olivia. Hi." He chuckled nervously, "I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to me, though based on what I saw earlier, you probably haven't had a moment to yourself in at least two hours, I know you hate these things -and most of the people." So he was there, he chuckled again, "Anyway, I just wanted you to know I'm back in the area, for- for good now, and that I would love to see you. You are under no obligation to reply to this, I just-" he was cut off by the beep signifying that he had passed his time for one voicemail. She wasn't surprised that he hadn't called to leave another message, she knew full well that he used to get annoyed when that would happen when they were still partners.
Partners.
What were they now?
She couldn't answer that.
And if she was truthful with herself: That hurt. More than it should have.
-End Chapter Two-
A/N: HOW BOUT THAT REUNION?! To quote my best friend after she watched it: "That was rough". Definitely understated. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm working on Chapter 3 now, hoping to have it up by the end of the week. Hoping. Many thank you's to my fabulous five!
As always, remember that you are loved, you are important, and you are always believed.