SAINT MATILDA'S HOSPITAL
8810 ELMHURST AVENUE
BROOKLYN
7:30 AM
So intense was Kim's adrenaline crash that once it was determined there was nothing seriously wrong with her, sleeping medicine was administered so she could safely sleep everything off. Cassidy stayed at the the hospital with her because he had found her, and also because he was very curious about what was happening. Clearly something big, to drive her out into the rain, dressed the way she was… but what?
Kim woke with a start the next morning at seven-thirty on the nose, very startled to see that she was in the hospital.
But then the memories came rushing back like a flood.
"Who are you?" she asked when she spotted the detective in a chair beside her bed.
"I'm Detective Brian Cassidy," he began. "And you're at a hospital in Brooklyn. You came into my precinct during the downpour yesterday evening."
Kim felt her eyes widen. "Yesterday evening? Did I say anything about why I was there?"
"No."
"I need a phone!"
"I don't even know your n—"
"Phone first," Kim interrupted. "Questions later!"
Deciding not to press her temper, Cassidy said calmly, "There's one on the side of your bed, there."
Kim found it, and Cassidy watched as she dialed the number she was thinking of.
"Hello?" came Benoît Rollins' voice.
Kim began to cry like a little girl. "Papa, I'm safe!"
Overjoyed to hear her voice, Benoît began crying, too. "Hang on, chickpea—I'm going to get your mother and put the phone on speaker!"
There was a moment of shuffling around, and then the sound of Beth Anne running when Benoît called for her.
"Kim, where are you?" Beth Anne asked when she reached the phone. "We'll come get you!"
After Cassidy provided her with the name of hospital, Kim replied, "Saint Matilda's Hospital, and Brooklyn."
"Benoît is writing it down. Where are your sisters?"
More tears fell down Kim's face. "I was the only one who could escape…"
Beth Anne heard the guilt, and was quick to console her. "You did, and you're safe; that's what matters. Can you get hold of the authorities?"
"There's already a detective here with me."
" stay put, okay?"
Kim promised she would, and after she and her parents exchanged goodbyes and "I love you," she was finally calm enough to answer questions.
Cassidy was extremely curious now because Kim's entire conversation had been in French, although not in a dialect that he immediately recognized. Was that Cajun? Creole, maybe?
"Will you tell me your name now?"
Kim nodded as she set the phone back in the cradle. "I'm Kim Rollins."
Hearing that surname triggered something in Cassidy's memory. "Are you related to Amanda Rollins?"
Kim gave another nod, although this one was more enthusiastic. "Yes—she's one of my sisters! Do you know her?"
"Yes, but not well. I was part of the SVU from 1999 to 2000."
"Then you know Olivia!"
That's an understatement, Cassidy thought. "Yes. Yes, I do know her."
"Will you call her?"
Cassidy took out his phone. "Gladly, but I need a few more pieces of the story, here."
"I'm the middle of three—Amanda is older than me, and after me is my other sister, Sophia Benson. We were all abducted last night, Amanda and I from Chelsea Market, by a girl named Reagan Turner, and Sophia from a café by someone else called Karissa Lee Redding. This is all because of an ongoing case about mine, Amanda's, and Sophia's biological father. I know where my sisters are, and I also know what Karissa Lee or Reagan are dead, but I can't say for sure which one."
Cassidy stared: that was a lot of information that Kim had unloaded on him.
At least he'd had coffee.
Wait—
"Olivia has a daughter?"
"Yes!" Kim barked. "Focus!"
Without any further aideu, Cassidy dialed Olivia's number.
COLUMBUS PARK, CHINATOWN
LOWER MANHATTAN
7:50 AM
After a very restless night, Olivia went to work early. She wasn't surprised to see Elliot, Fin, and Carisi arrive not long after.
As far as Olivia knew, Alex and Casey were hanging out together in Casey's office at the law building, while Noah was with his nanny, and Melissa was handing out with Violet at The Watering Can. Beth Anne and Benoît were back in their hotel room at The Plaza, and after some wheedling from Carisi, Olivia learned that Jesse was being looked after by her nanny, too.
Except for Sophia, Amanda, Kim, and the babies in their mothers' bellies, the rest of her family was all accounted for.
That had to count for something.
Olivia and the team were at the precinct for only thirty minutes before getting a call from Melinda, imploring them to all come to Columbus Park because there was a body that they would be interested in.
What wasn't lost on any of them was that this was the same place that she'd first seen Floyd-Willam's dead body.
Melinda met them just as they crossed under the crime scene tape.
"What do we have?" Olivia asked.
"You just have to see her," was all Melinda could say.
Her words left them all with a feeling of foreboding, so they followed her to spot on the main walking path. CSU was already spread out, processing the area, but there was a body on the pavement, covered by a sheet.
Knowing that Melinda would have been more forward if it was one of their inner circle, Olivia bit the bullet.
"Who is it?"
Melinda knelt down and pulled back the sheet. "It's Reagan Turner. I recognized her from the alert that went out last night."
Not long after the abductions, Olivia had worked with Fin to put out an alert about what had happened. It had included pictures of Sophia, Amanda, Kim, Karissa Lee, and Reagan. It had been circulated all throughout Manhattan.
"What happened?"
Melinda pulled the sheet down a little further to reveal Reagan's naked chest. There was a gaping bullet wound where a bullet had struck her.
Olivia groaned. "We just can't catch a break in this case; it's beginning to feel more like a war."
"Dollars to donuts, this is the work of Karissa Lee Redding." said Carisi.
"Was she killed here?" Elliot asked.
"No." Melinda shook her head and covered Reagan back up before standing and facing her friends. "She was shot somewhere else and dumped here. There are some bite marks on her legs from curious critters, and she's almost in the second stage of rigor mortis."
Fin did the math. "So she's already been dead for eight to twelve hours."
Olivia tried not to melt down. "I wanted to talk to her—something just gave me the impression that she would have been easier to crack than Karissa Lee."
"We can still catch Karissa Lee." Carisi told her. "It'll just take more time."
Olivia made to argue with him, but didn't because her phone began to ring.
Excusing herself, she crossed to the other side of the area, away from them to check the Caller ID. She had quite a surprise when she saw the name of the last person she was expecting.
"Brian?" Olivia said is surprise. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Even though they couldn't see each other, he smiled—Olivia's compassion was one of the things he'd always liked about her.
"I'm fine, but I found someone you lost. I just didn't know until know who she was."
"Who did you find?"
"Kim Rollins."
Olivia held a hand to her heart. "Where is 'here,' exactly? Is Kim hurt?"
"She's unhurt," Cassidy told her. "But she was admitted for an overnight stay because she was got caught in the rain, and she was running on pure adrenaline when she wandered into my station."
"And with adrenaline rushes come come crashes."
"Yeah, well, this one was extreme, and she was given some serious knock-out meds to help her sleep. We're at Saint Matilda's, in Brooklyn, and her parents are on the way."
"Tell her that I am, too."
"Will do. See you soon."
They hung up, and when Olivia put her phone away, she saw that Fin, Elliot, and Carisi were hovering nearby, so she beckoned them over.
"Brian Cassidy just called." she said.
Fin raised his eyebrows. "What? Why?"
"Talk about a blast from the past…" Elliot muttered.
Carisi remained the only mature one of the trio. "We haven't seen him or heard from him in awhile, so he wouldn't call without a reason. What'd he say?"
"He's at the main hospital in Downtown Brooklyn—Kim crossed his path in the rainstorm last night."
"Lieutenant, we have to go."
"Yes, we do, and we will."
Olivia looked to the other two.
"Can I trust you both to make decisions and hold the fort down while we go to Brooklyn?"
They nodded, and Elliot said, "We've got this. Go on and go."
Olivia and Carisi left quickly.
When Beth Anne and Benoît made it to the hospital, Beth Anne began flashing back to the first time she'd realized she was a single mother: it involved her, Blue, Amanda, and Kim all getting really sick at the same time, and then the realization that she was the only person who could save them. In spite of everything, including a rain storm and her car being on the fritz, Beth Anne still went out and got all of the supples they'd need to cope. She spent the rest of the day and much taking care of them, not tending to herself until the kids were asleep. She did it because she loved them, and that would never change.
Now, even at the 'certain age' that she was, she was pregnant again. Beth Anne hadn't known the baby was there because life back in Georgia was very busy, and then they'd gotten tangled up in an SVU mess. But the baby was healthy and thriving, so she was doing her best to take care of the little one by staying calm.
It was hard.
Kim burst into tears at the sight of her and Benoît.
"I'm so happy to see you both!" she cried when they rushed to her bed.
"And we're so happy to see you." Beth Anne said as she and Benoît got their hugs and kisses in. "How are you?"
"Ready to sleep, even though I've already slept through the night, and starving. But I can't eat."
This caught Benoît's attention because he believed in feeding people when they were sad or upset. "Why not, chickpea?"
"Well, how would you feel if two people you really loved were sick, scared, hurt, and locked away in some godforsaken basement of an abandoned property?"
Before they could ask for elaboration, Kim worked herself into such a panic that the monitors alerted the nurses. They came rushing over, prompting Beth Anne and Benoît to evacuate out into the hallway.
Cassidy followed.
He introduced himself, and explained things as he knew them. Beth Anne and Benoît were very attentive, and they thanked him for looking after Kim. Because Cassidy was still technically a member of the NYPD yet, he also asked the Rollinses about the last twelve hours from their perspective. He took fastidious notes for Olivia, to give to her when she arrived.
Surprisingly, that didn't take too long, and when Olivia did show up with Carisi, she greeted the Rollinses and then moved over to Cassidy.
He briefed her on the situation, including Kim's current status. Then he paused.
Olivia pulled him to the side. "What's up? I can see that you're thinking about something."
So Cassidy asked, "How close are you with the Rollins family?"
"Close enough to know I owe them everything, and close enough to know that Amanda is as good as my baby."
Cassidy shuffled his feet, suddenly nervous. "I was going to call you to take you out for a drink, but I guess I'll just say it now: I'm officially closing the chapter of my life that has been the NYPD."
"I beg your pardon?"
"In six days, I'm moving to California, and I'm going to join the PD out there." Again, he shuffled his feet. "I have a fiancée now, Olivia, and a stepdaughter, whom I just formally adopted."
Olivia lit up in joy: even though she and Cassidy hadn't worked out, she'd still wanted the best for him, and had wished him well, hoping that he'd still get his happy ending. Now he had.
"Oh, that's wonderful, Brian! I'm really happy for you!" Olivia gave him a quick hug. "Do you have a picture of them?"
He showed her a picture from his wallet of a very beautiful Asian woman and her daughter. They were both dressed very nicely, like they were getting ready to go to a party, and they were both beaming at the camera. Cassidy's fiancée looked to be around his and Olivia's age, and the girl, Olivia wouldn't have put past late toddler-aged.
"They're beautiful!" Olivia chirped, handing back the photo. "What are their names?"
"My fiancée is called Zoe, and our daughter is named Vienna. They left for California two days ago, and I'm going to meet them in six."
"I have a family, too, now."
Cassidy nodded. "Kim talked about Sophia."
Now Olivia was one shuffling her feet. She opened her mouth to say something, but promptly shut it when she couldn't say the words. Cassidy showed her some compassion.
"It's okay—this a secret I can understand you keeping quiet." he said. "Is she a child that you gave up?"
Nod.
"And what, she fell back into your life recently?"
"Literally," Olivia found herself saying. "I know you know about Noah, but my family's expanded. Here."
She showed him a picture on her phone, although he did a double-take when he saw one person in particular.
He looked back at Olivia. "Is that Alex Cabot?"
Olivia nodded proudly. "I have plans to propose to her early next year."
"Hey, good for you." Cassidy said sincerely and looked back at the photo. "I see Noah, but who's the little one in the dress?"
"My grandbaby, Melissa. She's going to be four in January."
"She's adorable, and then I take it that you were taking the picture, so this last person is your Sophia?"
"Uh-huh. It's a long story, but we just found out that Sophia is a half-sister to Amanda and Kim."
He handed the phone back and watched her put it in her pocket. "We'll have the time—my CO has officially given me permission to work on this case with you all."
"Good. Before we get any further on that, I just have to add that Alex and Sophia are both pregnant."
"Wow! Congratulations, Olivia!"
The lieutenant beamed. "Thank you."
Cassidy smiled and looked back Kim's room. She was calmer now, and the doctors had left, but she was even more tired, and on an external oxygen supply. Beth Anne, Benoît, and Carisi had entered the room and were talking to her again.
He looked back to Olivia.
"I've been a dad for awhile and I get it now—being a parent while having a job like this one."
Olivia sighed. "You see godawful things every day, and sometimes the worst of humanity, but there's nothing more rewarding than being able to come to a family of your own."
"You want to stop time for them or move mountains or the moon, but you also know that if your kid is hurt or missing, you'll do everything back in your power to stop the bad person, just told hold your kid again."
"Exactly. Being a parent is by no means easy, but it's the best thing in the world." Olivia motioned towards Carisi. "Dominick has come a long way since he joined the squad: he's with Amanda now, and she had a little girl named Jesse. Just recently, Dominick and Amanda found out that Jesse is going to be a big sister in the spring."
"So then Dominick understands what I'm feeling."
"Very well." Olivia said. "Since you're going to be working with us, I want to pair you with him."
"Alright. I can do that."
"Good. Now let's go see what Kim knows."
