**********
Colin Chapman smiled when he woke up Thursday morning, this was the day. This was the day that the lord had made for him. The day was going to live. The lord made babies too, but no, some of them wouldn't live. He would make sure that the doctors wouldn't either. Colin ate a good breakfast and wrote a note to Elliot. He'd never understand it, would he?
************
She was early for her appointment. The clinic looked like most - sterile and unfriendly. An older couple was already sitting down in the waiting room and a few staff mulled about. The receptionist smiled cheerily at her and Olivia wanted to smack her. She felt terrible. Nausea hadn't permitted her to keep any food down, and she couldn't sleep without waking up at all hours thinking about Elliot.
I'm doing this for him as much as for me. Soon this will all be over.
"I'm Olivia Benson. I have an appointment at nine," she said.
"With which doctor?"
"Dr. Pauls, I think."
"Okay. Just have a seat. Do you have any questions while you wait?" Olivia shook her head.
Let's just get it over with.
She sat down in the green plastic chairs across from the couple. The man was covering the woman's hands with his own. Another couple came through the door and began chatting with the receptionist. The older man began to speak.
"My wife is here to get an abortion. We have three lovely kids and we wanted four, but then we found out it had Down's syndrome." Olivia nodded politely.
"I had to take off work, but I just couldn't let her go through this alone," he said. Olivia felt an invisible hand close around her throat. His implication was clear - Where was the father of her child?
Goddamn it, he's at work. And he doesn't even know.
"Olivia Benson?" The receptionist called out to her, "Let's get you into pre-op." She took a deep breath and stood up. It was now or never.
**********
Elliot sat at his desk and stared across at her empty space. He missed Olivia, and he wondered if he had totally screwed everything up. Maybe he should have stopped by her apartment after work yesterday to check on her. Surely that wouldn't be going too fast. He decided to call her and see if she felt any better. She had given him quite a scare yesterday with the sudden throwing up.
Her phone rang three times, four, five, six, and there was no answer. He tried her cell. No answer there, either.
There's got to be a good explanation.
"Elliot, you need to see this." It was Cragen who spoke, urgency clear in his voice. He was holding another envelope, addressed to Elliot in the same bold writing. He handed Elliot a pair of latex gloves before allowing him to open it.
Elliot,
It's me again. I'm glad you haven't tried to stop my plans for this morning.
It would be devastating to have something go wrong when I've put so much time into this.
All I can say is that, when the day is through, Hell will have trouble keeping up with the number of new tenants and Heaven will have two new spots for you and I, when our times come.
-C.
Elliot shook his head.
"What is he trying to say?"
"Damned if I know. I'll give it to Munch to take to the lab to get prints."
"Quickly. He says he's planning something this morning. It's ten. There's only two hours left before this afternoon," Elliot said. Cragen nodded, turning back towards his office.
"I'll alert the abortion providers and they can decide whether or not to take action, with this limited evidence." Fin's phone rang and he picked it up, his tone turning urgent. He hung up.
"Too late," he said.
"What?" Elliot asked.
"Shooting at an abortion clinic near here. We'd better get over there," he said.
Elliot stood up and grabbed his coat.
"Meet you there."
***********
Four officers moved around the scene of the massacre, numbering and photographing bodies. One other one collected identifications from their pockets and clothing left in bins in pre-op and began to compile a list for the detectives. The first detective, Stabler, arrived in five minutes.
He recoiled at the sight. He had seen some pretty twisted things before, but nothing that compared with this rage, this number of bodies. There were ten in the waiting room, alone, including the receptionist, a nurse, and an older couple strewn on the chairs, their red blood standing out against the green.. All of them lay as they had fallen.
"Can I see the list so far?" Elliot asked. Turning these people into names and numbers would help distance himself. The officer handed him a sheet of paper. The sixth name down made him catch his breath. "This one. Olivia Benson. Where is she?"
"Um, well the ID was in pre-op so she could be in an OR or post-op. We haven't matched all the IDs to the bodies," he said.
"Which way?" Elliot asked. The guy looked at him. "Which way?!" He shouted. The officer pointed down the hall.
"The OR's are on your left." But Elliot was already gone.
**********
She was in the second OR. The body of a doctor was sprawled over her. Two nurses lay by the door, and an anesthesiologist was slumped by a wall, the blood stains chronicling his fall. There was no sound from any of the machines, including the heart monitor. Elliot pulled the body off her. She looked dead, unmoving, pale, and covered in blood. He put his ear to her mouth, but he couldn't tell if she was breathing or not. He picked up her wrist and felt a faint flickering of a pulse.
"Call an ambulance!" He yelled into the corridor.
Cragen, who had arrived slightly after Elliot, ran into the OR.
"Dear God," he said when he saw Olivia.
"She's still alive," Elliot said desprately, clutching Olivia's hands as if holding on to her would help her hold on to life.
"We're getting an ambulance. Any minute."
"She might not have a minute." Neither of them verbalized the obvious fact that Olivia had had a secret abortion. Elliot held her hand tightly for what seemed like an eternity. He didn't want to do CPR since he didn't know what kind of anasthetic she'd had or if it would hurt her. The paramedics arrived with a stretcher and rushed in, pulling out tubes and inserting new ones and carrying her away in a flurry of shouting. "What's going on?" Elliot asked, "Is she going to be all right?"
"Too soon to tell. Meet us at the hospital," said one paramedic in a tone showing that he was very busy and if Elliot didn't shut up, they might lose her. He meandered back into the waiting room. Most of the bodies were moved from there already, but the room still smelled of metallic blood.
"You did everything you could," Cragen said, noticing the expression on the detective's face. Elliot nodded.
"Do you think that this guy knew Olivia was going to be here? Maybe that's his connection to you," Munch observed.
"I didn't even know Olivia was going to be here," Elliot said.
"That's not it, then. What else do you think it could be?"
"I can't believe this! You aren't even concerned that she could die? If it was one of you, she'd be sitting awake in the waiting room until she found out what was going on," Elliot defended. Cragen took his shoulder.
"Elliot, why don't you go to the hospital? Call as soon as you know anything. We'll be over as soon as we're done here." Elliot nodded reluctantly.