"May I speak to Olivia Benson please." Olivia's brow furrowed, "This is she. Who's calling?" "I'm an ER nurse at Mercy." Olivia immediately thought of course some perp chose to attack someone on a night that I got home at a decent hour. She was brought back to reality when she heard the nurse say who the victim was. Olivia told the nurse that she'd be there as soon as she could. Luckily, she was able to keep that promise because she was ditched by Noah for Melinda's grandson Malcolm. She quickly dressed in leggings, t-shirt, and converse. She was in the process of dying her hair, so she left the French braids in and put the hair dye back in the box. She drove her Mustang to the hospital instead of her work SUV because she was off duty.
She showed her badge to the nurse at the desk and was quickly escorted to a trauma bed. She pulled back the curtain with a smirk, "Edgar Goodwin, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The smirk quickly left her face when she saw the extent of the injuries. He had a few scratches adorning his gorgeous face, both his forearms wrapped in thick gauze, and his right foot was settled into an orthopedic boot. Olivia moved closer to him and sat on the edge of the bed, "Edgar what happened?" he hesitated for a moment before saying, "I was on a date. We were on the sidewalk when a cab jumped the curb. I pushed her out the way and took the brunt of it." Olivia looked around the room, hoping that she wasn't intruding too much on his personal life. Olivia felt goosebumps break out on her skin when she noticed that he was staring at her. She cleared her throat and looked away, "So, where's the lucky lady?"
Edgar chuckled softly and shrugged, "She said and I quote 'you playing hero ruined my Versace. This wasn't a cheap outfit, so to hell with you." Olivia tried not to laugh but failed, "So, you're into material girls huh?" Edgar laughed but soon realize how much pain came with it. Olivia saw this and rubbed his hand gently, "Don't try and laugh." She looked down and saw her hand conjoined with his and tried to pull it away. He grabbed her fingers softly and said, "I'm not big on material girls. I thought she was different. In truth, I was trying and failing to get another woman out my head." Olivia couldn't believe what she was hearing; it had been nearly a month—surely she wasn't the woman on his mind for that time. She was starting to feel a fire burning in her belly from the smoldering eye contact that they were sharing. She suddenly blurted out, "Why did they call me?"
Edgar had an uncomfortable look on his face. He looked away from Olivia and she could've sworn that she saw him blushing. "The date wasn't necessarily going the way that I hoped it would. Put it this way, I learned more about Fendi shoes than I ever cared to." They both chuckled. Edgar continued, "I do admit that I started scrolling through my phone to regain any brain cells that I may have lost. I was looking at your phone number, that I saved from your business card, when we were leaving the restaurant. When I was brought in, I guessed the nurse called the contact that I was looking at….you." Olivia felt like she'd been gut-punched but upon looking in his eyes, she saw sincerity.
"So, you were about to call me about something work-related?" Edgar smiled, "No. I'm done with criminal defenses, my last client solidified that. I was calling to extend another apology-" "that's not necessary"
"and hopefully muster up the courage to ask you if we could start over. So, can we?" Olivia sat there silently and was about to answer when a doctor and nurse walked up to them. "Sorry to interrupt. I'm Dr. Daniels and this is Nurse Tiffany, the one who called you, Captain. Mr. Goodwin, you have lacerations to both forearms that required stitches, torn ligaments in your ankle that we have stabilized with a boot, superficial abrasions to your face, and two cracked ribs. Although I'm leery about discharging you, I will release you if you have someone to look after you as you recover."
"I'll look after him." Edgar was in complete shock, "Olivia I can't ask you to do that." She smirked, "Well it's a good thing that you didn't ask." "Chris mentioned that you have a son, that would be asking too much." Olivia grabbed his hand and smiled, "Again, you didn't ask. Besides, I'm free for the week, except work, because my kid ditched me to spend time with his best friend while they have a school break." She turned to the doctor, "What are his restrictions?"
"He needs to keep his ankle elevated, ensure that he always has food with his pain medication, and to not sleep on the cracked ribs." Olivia looked to Edgar and said, "There's a strong possibility that you might break your neck at my house with the way my kid leaves his toys, so I guess we'll be headed to your bachelor pad." Edgar smiled, "What makes you think that I have a bachelor pad?" Olivia shrugged, "Where else is a gigolo gonna sleep?" She nearly got away just as Edgar tugged her back to him. Her goosebumps returned as he whispered huskily, "take it back." "Not a chance" she replied and moved away quickly to sign his discharge paperwork. Edgar felt his heart hammer in his chest every time that she gave him that shy smile, or any smile at all.
Within the hour, they were back at his large apartment. Olivia supported as much of his body weight as she could when they got off the elevator. The entire trip, coupled with pain medication wearing off, took its toll on Edgar. She sat him at the breakfast nook and went in search of his bedroom. She went into his bathroom and filled the tub with steaming hot water. She returned to the kitchen to see a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Edgar, I ran you a bath." He looked up surprised, "You didn't have to do that." "I wanted to." She helped him hobble into the bathroom and stood frozen for a moment. She looked up to see him blush slightly as he shyly asked, "Um Olivia, do you mind helping me with the drawstring on these sweatpants? The nurse tied them pretty tight."
Olivia's own blushing was apparent as she tried to divert her eyes and blindly untie his sweats. The last thing that she wanted to do was be this intimately close to someone that she was obviously attracted to. She untied the pants as fast as she could and felt goosebumps rise on her skin when Edgar softly grabbed her chin and guided her to look him in the eyes. The mischievous twinkle in his eyes stirred up desire within her as he husked out, "I don't bite Olivia." Olivia was so turned on that she nearly ran into the bathroom door as she made a hasty retreat. Edgar knew that he might need help getting in and out of the tub, however, he didn't want to make Olivia uncomfortable. With many winces, Edgar relaxed into the steaming bath. He'd been in the tub dozing off when he smelled food cooking. The wonderful smell made his stomach growl. He decided that it was time to get out of the tub. With some difficulty, he managed to get out the tub without causing himself major body pain. He wrapped the towel around his waist, but it fell to the ground when he stood up straight. Olivia took that moment to come around the corner "Oh my God! I'm so sorry Edgar." He was trying not to laugh as she covered her entire face. "I was just coming to tell you that Christian is on his way and that dinner is ready." Edgar took the opportunity to slip on the boxers that he brought into the bathroom with him. Edgar took a step forward and used his large hands to lower hers, "It's safe now."
Olivia cursed the blush that she knew was visible on her face; she saw his own blush and thought Why in the hell is he blushing? He has nothing to be ashamed of. He has a HUGE nothing to be ashamed of. A nothing that I'd love to….down girl. Just bolt the first chance you get and try to erase that beautiful, endowed body out of your head. Olivia cleared her throat and left the bathroom when the doorbell rang. She was so grateful that Garland showed up when he did and even more grateful that he didn't mention her flushed appearance. She rattled off doctor's orders and restrictions all without making eye contact. Edgar hobbled into the kitchen and Olivia quickly averted her eyes away from him—something that didn't go unnoticed by Garland. "Edgar, I made you guys a baked nacho dish. Its light enough to not make you nauseous with the pain meds but filling enough to subside your hunger. I'm going to head home now."
When Olivia closed the door behind her, both men started to chuckle "What did you do to her Edgar?" Edgar didn't respond, causing Garland's expression to turn dark and protective. Edgar was taken aback by that look and put his hands up, "Man, I swear that nothing bad happened. I'd never do anything bad to that woman. So, take the overprotectiveness down a notch and relax. She ran me a bath and when I got out, she just happened to walk into my bathroom when I dropped my towel. She saw me in my birthday suit and hasn't looked me in the eye since." Garland's protective look finally turned into a smirk, "Do I sense a budding romance between the two of you?" Edgar rolled his eyes, "Can we eat dinner? I'm hungry." "Ah, avoiding the question." "You're disrupting my doctor's orders."
Back at Olivia's apartment
Olivia knew that it was only a matter of time before Edgar told Garland what happened, which meant that it wouldn't take Lamai long to find out either. Olivia was really enjoying her new friendship with Lamai; the woman even started to become a part of her girls' night with Rollins with the occasional appearance by Kat. As if she were a mind reader, there was a knock on her door. She put the 4 wine glasses on the table before she answered the door. As expected, Lamai, Amanda, and Kat were on the other side of her door. Amanda immediately said, "Garland called the wife, she called me, and Kat and I were already out getting tacos."
They started to eat their tacos and drink their wine when Kat asked, "So is every part of tall, dark, and handsome worth drooling over?" Olivia almost spit her wine out as Amanda chuckled, "Girl, you have no subtly in your bones whatsoever."